The first of the National Transportation Safety Board’s three days of investigative hearings is underway to help determine what caused the deadly midair collision on January 29 between an Army helicopter on a training mission and American Airlines flight 5342 landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board will question witnesses Thursday about air traffic control training, a key part of the investigation into January’s deadly midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board is examining the air traffic control practices at Reagan National Airport following a mid-air collision that killed 67 people, focusing on the culture of "just making it work.

FILE PHOTO: A crane retrieves part of the wreckage from the Potomac River, in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the river, by the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo