An airport in Southern California was described as the site of the next midair collision, a top official said, as investigators discussed their findings nearly a year after an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided over the Potomac River, killing 67 people.
On Tuesday, Jan. 27, the National Transportation Safety Board held a public board meeting to finalize theirinvestigation of the midair collisionlast January that occurred near the Reagan Washington National Airport.
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said she keeps hearing about other areas in the airspace where there is concern.
"Burbank is one where commercial airlines have called me to say the next midair is going to be at Burbank," Homendy said. "And nobody at FAA is paying attention to us."
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The airport served more than six million passengers last year. In February 2023,the NTSB reportedit was looking into an incident at the airport where an aircraft was departing on a runway that another aircraft was set to land on, forcing it to abort the landing.
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The Federal Aviation Administration "acted immediately to improve safety" after the collision in January 2025, both at the Reagan Washington National Airport and airports around the country, the FAA said in a statement to the USA TODAY Network.
"In February 2025, we began using innovative AI tools to identify similar hotspots with high volumes of mixed helicopter and airplane traffic and implement appropriate mitigations," the FAA said. "One of our primary focus areas was Van Nuys Airport and nearby Hollywood Burbank Airport in the Los Angeles area."
Van Nuys Airport is west of the Hollywood Burbank Airport, only about a 10-mile drive dependent on the route.
After implementing a change last year based on their safety analysis, "preliminary data indicated the change resulted in a reduction of Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) alerts for Burbank arrivals," the FAA said.
Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her atpbarraza@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Burbank airport could be site of next plane crash, NTSB said
