Air traffic controller staffing has been issue at Austin's airport for years | FOX 7 Austin

Air traffic controller staffing has been issue at Austin's airport for years

For years, Congressman Lloyd Doggett has been calling for more air traffic controllers after several near misses at Austin’s airport. 

He said Wednesday night's midair crash near Washington D.C. is a reminder that a tragedy could happen anywhere.

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Midair crash in D.C.

The backstory:

President Donald Trump confirmed there were no survivors among the 67 people on board an American Airlines passenger jet and a military helicopter, which collided midair over Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night.

The American Airlines jet had 60 passengers and four crew members on board. Three soldiers were aboard the helicopter. According to officials, the helicopter apparently flew into the flight path of the plane while it was landing at the airport.

The crash triggered a major search-and-rescue operation in the icy Potomac River. Dozens of bodies were recovered from the waters during the overnight hours. The plane's fuselage was found upside down and broken into three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also located. 

If the casualty numbers hold, this incident could become the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years.

In a briefing Thursday afternoon, President Trump said it has been years since something like this has happened and the collision is something he doesn’t expect to ever happen again.

What's next:

While the National Transportation Safety Board investigates what happened Wednesday night, and lawmakers work to try to ensure it doesn’t happen again, families are grieving.

Ken Jenkins, founder of Ken Jenkins LLC, a crisis response strategy company, said he has a good idea of what is happening now to help support them.

"The airline is responsible for setting up a family assistance center where family members that want to fly to Washington, D.C., to the accident city can be briefed by the NTSB and the airline and other agencies like the Red Cross, the Disaster Mortuary Response team, to talk about the recovery of remains and when they'll be identified and returned, which is just an awful discussion to have, and all of those agencies come together in one house, if you will, to provide information to the families," Jenkins said.

Jenkins is now retired after working for American Airlines for 26 years. He worked with family members in the aftermath of accidents. During his career, he responded to 17 different mass casualty events.

"It brought back everything, and I'm still feeling it today. I fight back tears," Jenkins said.

Near-misses in Austin

What they're saying:

"It is a reminder that a tragedy like this can occur right here in Austin with so many near-misses, near catastrophes in recent years," Rep. Lloyd Doggett said.

The most recent close call at ABIA was just three months ago when an American Airlines jet missed a smaller plane by about 350 feet.

Doggett said more air traffic controllers are needed. He criticized President Trump for signing an executive order last week implementing a freeze on hiring federal civilian employees. 

Doggett claims it put a pause on hiring new air traffic controllers, too.

"Apparently, there was some talk about diversity, equity, inclusion that they're investigating, and I think, you know, they could investigate, but they need to lift the freeze so we can get more of these controllers training and air traffic controllers," Doggett said.

Doggett said ABIA is at about half the number of air traffic controllers needed to be appropriately staffed.

"We need to have a strong margin of safety there that we do not have today," Doggett said.

The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Meredith Aldis, and previous coverage

AustinAustin-Bergstrom International AirportWashington, D.C.