Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., told Newsmax on Friday that Congress must "get to the bottom" and determine what caused the aviation disaster in Washington, D.C., earlier this week that resulted in the deaths of dozens of people.
A U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines Bombardier jet on Wednesday evening, sending both aircraft into the Potomac River, killing 67 people in the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in over 20 years.
In the wake of the accident, some members of Congress have expressed concerns that a bill Congress passed last year allowing increased flights into and out of Reagan Airport could have contributed to the accident.
When asked if he has any concerns about the bill, Bresnahan, a pilot serving on the House Subcommittee on Aviation, said on "Wake Up America" that "It's OK to have more flights, but you also have to have the staffing requirements inside of air traffic control."
He added that the directions from air traffic control to the pilots may have contributed to the incident, saying that during the conversation between air traffic control, the pilot of the Black Hawk helicopter, and the pilot of the American Airlines CRJ-700, "the air traffic control did alert that there would be a possible incursion and actually instructed [the Black Hawk] to go behind the CRJ, where I think there was a miss."
Bresnahan added that in his opinion, "there just wasn't enough time for" that maneuver "or possibly, the helicopter [was] mistaken [about] what aircraft he was actually trying to pass behind."
He said, "There's been some early reports suggesting that the air traffic control center was staffed with only one individual … over the next coming weeks and days and months, I'm hoping we get to the bottom of that."
The congressman added, "I think it's OK to increase air traffic, but you need to make sure staffing levels are appropriate."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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