Kansas Senator Jerry Moran led a subcommittee hearing Thursday to look at preliminary findings from the crash of a Wichita flight to Washington, D.C. in January.  The crash of an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter resulted in the deaths of 67 people.

Moran chairs the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, and the hearing was conducted to examine the findings from the National Transportation Safety Board on the crash. 

In Moran’s opening statement, he said “Sixty-seven lives that were lost on January 29th were taken prematurely in an accident that by all indications should have been avoided.  NTSB’s preliminary report into the midair collision provides insights into the events of January 29th, but many questions still need to be answered, not only by the NTSB’s investigation, but by our nation’s aviation safety regulator and by the Army.”

Acting Administrator of the FAA Chris Rocheleau told the subcommittee that the FAA intends to hire 2,000 more air traffic controllers this year. He said safety is the number one priority of the FAA in a fiery hearing before the Senate aviation subcommittee.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy testified that the NTSB’s preliminary investigation found more than 15,000 near misses at DCA over the last three years, information that was available to the FAA and the airlines prior to the crash.  She said she hopes to have a final report on this crash in a year.

In a 20-page preliminary report released on March 11, the NTSB also made several recommendations including a continued ban on helicopter traffic over a four-mile stretch over the Potomac River.  The ban went into effect shortly after the January 29th crash when American Airlines PSA Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter collided at night. 

The hearing was attended by families of the crash victims.  Dailey Crafton, brother of Casey Crafton who was onboard the American Airlines jet, told the press he is hoping for greater aviation safety to come from these hearings.