Details are emerging about the Washington air disaster that killed 67 people — and some of those factors are only likely to fuel political fights.

On Thursday afternoon, reports emerged from the New York Times and CBS News that air traffic control staffing levels were “not normal” when an American Airlines jet collided with a military helicopter as it neared its landing at Reagan Washington National Airport.

The news organizations were basing the “not normal” assessment on a preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). According to the Times, the person who was directing helicopter traffic near the airport was also doing the same job with planes that were taking off and landing.

“Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers rather than one,” the Times reported.

This key detail is sure to reinvigorate debate over staffing levels among the nation’s air traffic controllers — and President Trump’s inclusion of those people in the buyout plan that he has offered to the federal workforce.

In May 2024, the FAA estimated it needed roughly 3,100 more air traffic controllers than it actually had in order to meet its staffing plans across the country. At that point, there were about 11,500 fully qualified controllers, whereas the staffing plans projected an optimum staff of 14,600.

When those numbers came out, CNN reported that the FAA had hired 1,512 new controller candidates in the previous fiscal year but had also lost around 1,300 employees........

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