Deadly Plane Crash is Reminiscent of Previous North Las Vegas Midair Collision

Posted on: February 4, 2025, 10:50h. 

Last updated on: February 4, 2025, 11:01h.

Last week’s fatal crash between a plane and helicopter in Washington, DC is reminiscent to a similar midair collision that happened close to Nevada’s North Las Vegas Airport in 2022.

Crews in Potomac River
Crews in the Potomac River, pictured above, search for remains and evidence linked to a deadly plane crash. (Image: WMAZ)

In that incident, four people were killed when a Cessna 172N and Piper PA-46 crashed into each other a quarter-mile from a runway in North Las Vegas on July 17, 2022..

A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation said inadequate staffing in the airport control tower was a contributing cause to the North Las Vegas crash, along with pilot error.

Inadequate Staffing in North Las Vegas

“According to the air traffic manager (ATM), the inadequate staffing had resulted in reduced training discussions, and the management team was unable to appropriately monitor employee performance,” the NTSB said in a report as quoted by Las Vegas TV station KLAS.

The ATM stated that everyone on the team was exhausted, and that work/life balance was nonexistent. It is likely that the cumulative effects of continued deficient staffing, excessive overtime, reduced training, and inadequate recovery time between shifts took a considerable toll on the control tower workforce.”

In addition, a control worker showed “poor judgment,” at the time of the crash, the NTSB report concluded.

Officials Review Staffing at Reagan

Similarly, staffing issues at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport control tower are being investigated as officials review events that led up to last Wednesday’s deadly collision between the military helicopter and commercial plane. The crash led to the deaths of 67 people. Both the plane and the chopper crashed into the Potomac River.

It appears one employee in the control tower at Reagan National Airport was doing the tasks of two workers, according to news reports. On Friday, The Washington Post cited a government report that the number of staff in the Reagan control tower was “not normal” when the crash occurred.

All 64 people aboard the American Eagle Flight No 5342, which was operated by PSA Airlines, died in the accident. PSA Airlines and American Eagle are affiliated with American Airlines. Three servicemembers aboard the helicopter were also killed.

Oksana Baiul Reacts

The passengers on the commercial flight included figure skaters and skating coaches.

Former Las Vegas resident and Olympic Gold Medalist Oksana Baiul told reporters in recent days she knew several of those who lost their lives.

I started reading the news,” Baiul told KLAS. “And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’”

The fatalities last week include 1994 World Champions Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova.

In the early nineties after I won the gold medal, Shishkova, Naumov, and myself, we used to live in Connecticut, we used to be colleagues, training on the same ice,” Baiul recalled.

Alexandr Kirsanov, who was a figure skating coach in Delaware, also died, and Baiul said he was a friend.

“It felt like I broke out in tears, and it started feeling like, okay I’m a human, so now I can cry for them,” Baiul added.