By Andrew Tangel

An internal Federal Aviation Administration review of the accident said configuration of tower staffing was "not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic."

-- The review said responsibilities overseeing helicopters as well as airplane departures and arrivals were combined, as were other positions, according to the internal FAA report.

-- Periodically combining responsibilities in air traffic control facilities is common. The practice can lead to higher workload for controllers, but the FAA has said it always puts safety over efficiency and will slow down traffic as necessary.

-- The FAA regarded staffing at the tower as adequate at the time of the accident, according to a person familiar with the matter.

-- The helicopter and local control positions there are typically combined after 9:30 p.m., according to a person familiar with the matter.

-- Supervisors have the discretion to combine controller positions as needed, and they were combined at the time of the accident, this person said.

-- It wasn't clear what prompted the combining of the roles before 9:30 p.m. the evening of the crash, but this person said "not normal" was common phrasing inside the FAA and didn't suggest it was extraordinary or unsafe. The FAA report said the traffic at the time of the accident was "moderate with moderate complexity."

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January 31, 2025 15:55 ET (20:55 GMT)

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