NBC’s Tom Costello: FAA Air Traffic Control Boss Let Supervisor Leave Early Before Midair Crash

EXCERPT:

COSTELLO: "A high-level investigative source tells me that they have now confirmed that an FAA air traffic control supervisor in the tower here at Reagan had allowed a supervisor to leave early, and as a result, there was only one supervisor Wednesday night handling both helicopter traffic and plane traffic. Normally you would have one dedicated to helicopters, one dedicated to planes. Now, while this is not optimal, it is allowed, but nonetheless, that will clearly be a part of this investigation. Air traffic control staffing nationwide, as you know, has been an ongoing issue with the shortage of 10,000 controllers nationwide. It’s been a problem years in the making. So now the question is whether staffing in any way played a role in this accident.”