Maryland senator voiced concerns about crowded DC airspace months before deadly crash

Authorities continue to investigate the events that led to the deadly mid-air collision near the nation’s capital on Wednesday night. 67 people are presumed dead, and among the victims are several U.S. figure skaters.

Meanwhile, warnings some lawmakers raised last year about the overcrowded airspace at the Reagan National Airport are resurfacing. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, voiced concerns about the dangers of the air traffic risks at the main airport for the D.C. metro area months prior to the recent tragic incident. He is one of four senators who voted against the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 that added new daily round trips to the airport's schedule.

“I and my Virginia Senate colleagues have been concerned about the fact that Reagan National Airport is already over-congested, and the legislation last year would have added even more flights — and will add more flights — to an airport that is already the most overcrowded, congested airport in the country,” Sen. Van Hollen says. “In my view, too many folks who are pushing hard for these additional routes did so based on convenience over safety.”

“I do have that concern. You're already talking about the most congested airport in the country — and on top of that, you have this helicopter traffic. And again, we got to get to the bottom of what happened here. But I was glad to see the FAA put a halt, at least a temporary halt, to helicopter traffic because, clearly, when you've got airspace that's already the most congested in the country, having a lot of helicopter traffic, it just compounds the risk.”

“It's absolutely false. And I happened to have the TV on during that press conference, and I was absolutely appalled that the president of the United States would immediately take this national tragedy and seek to politicize it. I believe the president owes an apology to the families who lost loved ones, an apology to the country.

“This is a moment when we should get to the facts and the president began to spout off these theories, which he had to admit he had no basis for making. That was grotesque and it should not happen.”

“I do believe that the staffing levels for air traffic controllers around the country need to be reviewed right away. There are staffing shortages. Whether or not what happened, this terrible tragedy, was related to having that one air traffic controller dealing with the helicopters and planes, we'll have to see. But absolutely, we need to be hiring more folks to the FAA as air traffic controllers. And one of my great concerns about another initiative that the Trump administration has undertaken has been a hiring freeze – we don't know if that will impact these folks and the politicization of the merit-based civil service.”

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.