A midair collision near D.C. has raised concerns over FAA staffing, prompting scrutiny of air traffic control and aviation safety oversight.

The runway American Eagle Flight 5342 was supposed to land on will be closed until Feb. 7, according to a memo sent to pilots on Thursday.

The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions," Trump said.

While that office may be ready to go to work, the FAA itself is not fully on the job. That’s because it’s without an administrator. Michael Whitaker, who had led the administration since Oct., 2023, stepped down earlier this month,

Mike Whitaker, the previous FAA administrator, stepped down on Inauguration Day after just over a year on the job. He’d repeatedly clashed with Elon Musk — now in charge of a group tasked with slashing the government’s headcount by President Donald Trump — over safety issues at his space company,

Authorities believe there are no survivors in the accident, which happened as a regional passenger jet was attempting to land Wednesday night at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

A dramatic plane crash in frigid temperatures. And a search and rescue that saved lives on the same partially frozen Potomac River. Almost 43 years ago to the day, tragedy struck when a commercial jet − Air Florida Flight 90 − plunged into icy waters shortly after an afternoon takeoff from the same airport where a passenger jet with 64 people aboard collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night.