FAA Investigating False Collision Warnings at Washington's Reagan Airport

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 3:00 PM ET, Tue March 4, 2025

Multiple pilots who were en route to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport received faulty warnings about flight path obstacles just one month after a deadly mid-air collision near the airport.

According to a report from USA Today, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the incidents.

"Several flight crews inbound to Reagan Washington National Airport received onboard alerts Saturday indicating another aircraft was nearby when no other aircraft were in the area. Some of the crews executed go-arounds as a result of the alerts. The FAA is investigating why the alerts occurred," the agency said in a statement to USA TODAY.

There were no collisions, injuries or any other issues that took place Saturday at the airport, despite the erroneous warnings.

Aviation industry experts are saying that the inaccurate warnings are an unusual development.

"I've never heard of something like this," said Robert Sumwalt, former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, according to a CBS News report.

"Nuisance alerts, yes, they happen. But not like this where several planes have it at the same location,” Sumwalt added.

Meanwhile, the pilots who received the inaccurate reports of obstacles all followed proper procedures, per USA Today.

The news of inaccurate flight obstacle warnings follows on the heels of the mid-air collision near the airport between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet, in which 67 people died.

It also comes at a time when the Trump administration has fired several hundred FAA workers.

The impacted workers included personnel hired for FAA radar, landing and navigational aid maintenance, according to The Associated Press.

A Transportation Department official subsequently told The AP that the FAA “retained employees who perform critical safety functions.” However, in a follow-up query the agency added that they would have to look into whether the radar, landing and navigational aid workers affected were considered to handle critical safety functions.