When Congress pushed ahead last year with adding 10 new daily flights to the Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., the Federal Aviation Administration had data showing an unnerving number of near misses in the already-crowded skies 맥스카지노� something lawmakers apparently did not know.Related video above: NTSB preliminary report on deadly DC midair collisionThe FAA, which manages the nation's airspace and oversees aviation safety, had data on dozens of incidents that experts said documented a safety concern. That data didn't prompt any action before January's deadly midair collision between an American Airlines jetliner and a military helicopter that killed 67 people.맥스카지노�Why someone was not paying attention to those numbers and those events are questions yet to be answered,맥스카지노� said James Hall, a former National Transportation Safety Board chair during the Clinton administration. 맥스카지노�What not to do is to ignore that many incidents."Data collected by the FAA shows close calls were far more frequent than travelers and outside aviation experts knew at Reagan National, which was built to handle 15 million passengers a year, not the 25 million traveling through it annually.Now, safety experts and family members who lost loved ones in the Jan. 29 crash are asking why action wasn't taken earlier.The NTSB said airplane pilots were alerted to take evasive action to avoid hitting helicopters at least once a month from 2011 through 2024, citing data compiled by the FAA, and that there were 85 near misses when aircraft were within a few hundred feet (meters) of each other during recent years.맥스카지노�How does that happen in this day and age, and somebody doesn맥스카지노�t do something about it?맥스카지노� asked Doug Lane, whose wife, Christine Conrad Lane, and their 16-year-old son, Spencer, died in the crash.Pilots have long worried about the congested and complex airspace around Reagan National, near the heart of the capital, where flights must maneuver around military aircraft and restricted areas. It was no secret there had been previous close calls, but the numbers found by the NTSB were alarming.FAA officials have not yet addressed who inside the agency saw the data and whether it prompted discussions about possible changes. Messages seeking comments were not immediately returned Thursday.Current NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who oversees the FAA, both said they were angry that the number of close calls were not recognized earlier by the FAA.맥스카지노�If someone was paying attention, someone was on the job, they would have seen this,맥스카지노� Duffy said.Safety advocate Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, said that while there was plenty of blame to go around for the midair collision, the FAA was shockingly complacent.맥스카지노�They literally wait for a disaster,맥스카지노� she said. "I can맥스카지노�t even fathom how the families of those lost in this crash can even deal with this. I mean, this would be so maddening to hear.맥스카지노�In Kansas, some officials also argue the FAA's data should have been readily accessible to the public. State Rep. John Carmichael, from Wichita, where the airliner's flight started, said Thursday that it's not enough for people to get data through Freedom of Information Act requests when that can take months.맥스카지노�The public absolutely needs to know about statistics like that because we all put our lives in the hands of pilots and air traffic controllers every time we get on a plane,맥스카지노� said Kris Kobach, the state's attorney general. 맥스카지노�I맥스카지노�m hopeful that the Trump administration will make this kind of information available to the traveling public.맥스카지노�Commercial passenger airlines are authorized to make a total of 864 landings and departures from Reagan National from 6 a.m. to midnight each day, or 48 an hour, according to the airport맥스카지노�s website. Of those, 64 have been added by Congress since 2000. Local airport authorities have objected to the increases.The crowded airspace around Washington drew attention last year when Congress debated an aviation safety bill that allowed 10 more flights a day at Reagan National, despite strong objections from Virginia맥스카지노�s Democratic senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.Squeezing in more flights would only increase the risks, they warned, calling a near miss between two planes on a runway last April a 맥스카지노�flashing red warning light.맥스카지노�While Congress did OK the extra flights, they had not started as of the deadly January collision.Kaine told reporters Thursday he was troubled by the number of near misses and the lack of action by the FAA. 맥스카지노�What were they doing with the information if they weren맥스카지노�t making the changes that needed to be made?맥스카지노� he said.The FAA limits arrival and departure slots at three of the nation맥스카지노�s busiest airports where demand exceeds the airport맥스카지노�s capacity: Reagan National and New York City's LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International airports.But Congress has a history of directing the FAA to add slots at Reagan, even though Washington맥스카지노�s other international airport, Dulles, has the capacity to handle them. Reagan is closer to the capital and most federal departments and is therefore more convenient, particularly for lawmakers.Mike McCormick, coordinator of the Air Traffic Management program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said the congestion at Reagan National clearly contributed to the midair collision because the American Airlines jetliner, which was on a newly added route from Wichita, Kansas, was diverted to a different runway closer to the helicopter flights.맥스카지노�In this instance, the sole reason for doing it was because they were too busy,맥스카지노� McCormick said. 맥스카지노�This is something that controller has probably done thousands of times.맥스카지노�The flight from Wichita to Washington began operating in early 2024, the first direct flight from Kansas' largest city to Reagan National. It was not among the 10 added last year but was announced by American Airlines and Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran separate from any congressional action in July 2023. Moran said it was 맥스카지노�vital맥스카지노� to link the nation맥스카지노�s capital with the city, which has a long history as an aircraft manufacturing hub.U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat who serves on an aviation subcommittee, said the cause of the crash and the congestion at Reagan National are, for now, 맥스카지노�two different conversations.맥스카지노�맥스카지노�I understand the desire for us all to be able to connect these dots,맥스카지노� she said. 맥스카지노�Right now, that is not a connection that has been made by the NTSB.맥스카지노�___Associated Press reporters Michael Casey in Boston; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; and Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia contributed to this report.