Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently announced that artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to detect and address air traffic risks, following a slew of near-misses and fatal plane crashes across the country.
Duffy told FOX 5 DC that officials are implementing AI to “identify and address potential air traffic risks nationwide,” potentially aiding in preventing tragedies like the fatal Jan. 29 midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) that claimed the lives of 67 people.
Following the Potomac River crash, which involved a commercial plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter, Duffy announced a plan to build a new “state-of-the-art” traffic control system that will equip locations with better technology to reduce outages, improve efficiency and reinforce safety.
Duffy told FOX 5 that when investigators were looking into how to prevent collisions, they asked themselves, “Are there any other DCAs out there?”
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) previously said it identified 15,214 instances of planes getting alerts about helicopters in close proximity near DCA between October 2021 and December 2024.
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Duffy said the Department of Transportation is now using AI to “help us analyze different hot spots in the country” and take action “before you have the tragedy of what we saw on the 29th of January.”
It is unclear how hot spots are being identified, and which safety concerns AI is being used to search for.
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It is also uncertain if the new technology could be used to address recent staffing concerns and outages at Newark Liberty Internal Airport, which Duffy attributed to the previous administration’s transfer of airspace control from New York to Philadelphia.
“We have an antiquated and old air traffic control system, anywhere from 25 to 35 [years old], 40 years old in some places. It is in desperate need of a brand new build,” Duffy said during a news conference on Wednesday.
“The last administration signed a 15-year contract to upgrade the telecom [wiring with fiber lines],” he continued. “It shows how there was not a focus on the true issues that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was facing… We are not going to pass the buck. We’re actually going to fix it. We’re going to do the work, to make sure that we do have a state-of-the-art air traffic control system.”
The Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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