Air traffic controller ‘left work early’ before deadly collision air crash 

A single controller was left to handle the air traffic of planes and helicopters flying over the airspace when two people would typically be monitoring both flight paths, Independent New York reports.

A supervisor allowed an air traffic controller at Ronald Reagan National Airport to leave early, hours before the passenger plane collided with an Army helicopter in midair, according to reports.

Both aircraft plunged into the icy Potomac River shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday and all 64 passengers on the American Airlines regional jet, along with three soldiers on the Black Hawk helicopter, are presumed dead.

Sources told NBC, independent reports, that a single controller was left to handle the air traffic of planes and helicopters flying over the airspace when two people would typically be monitoring both flight paths.

The Federal Aviation Authority confirmed in a preliminary safety report of the crash that one controller was doing the job of two, according to the New York Times. Aeroplane and helicopter traffic are normally handled by two separate controllers until 9:30 p.m., but a source told the newspaper that a supervisor allegedly merged the two jobs before the allotted change over time.

Staffing levels were “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic” over the airspace, the report said, according to the outlet.

According to Independent New York, Air traffic staffing will be one of several areas investigators probe as they try to piece together what led to the deadliest U.S. air disaster since 9/11. There are also new reports raising concerns about the helicopter’s flight pattern including whether the aircraft was flying above its designated airspace.

In addition, there are indications that the helicopter may have been flying too high and outside the approved flight path when it collided with the American Airlines plane, the Times also reported.