News

Notes: Senators Warner and Kaine push for probe into fatal D.C. plane crash

By ALXnow.com

Good morning, Alexandria! Today is Friday, June 13, the 164th day of 2025. There are 201 days left in the year.

⛈️ Today’s weather:  Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 5 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 89 degrees. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 7 mph in the morning. The chance of precipitation is 60%—new rainfall amounts between a tenth and a quarter of an inch, except higher amounts are possible in thunderstorms.

Showers and thunderstorms are likely tonight, mainly before 2 a.m., followed by areas of drizzle and thunderstorms after 5 a.m. Patchy fog between 11 p.m. and midnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 71 degrees. East wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. The chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches are possible.

🚨 You need to know

A group of lawmakers from both parties is pressing federal agencies to investigate the January 29, 2025, mid-air collision at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) that killed 67 people.

Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, Democrats from Virginia, along with several colleagues from Maryland and Virginia, have sent letters to the Inspectors General of the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Army. They’re asking for in-depth investigations into the policies and procedures that may have contributed to the tragedy.

The crash involved an American Airlines passenger plane and a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.

In their letter to the DOT, the lawmakers are requesting an examination of several areas. These include FAA training and operations in the National Capital Region, the coordination of helicopter routes and runways at DCA, and safety incidents that occurred before and after the crash.

The letter to the Army calls for a review of training activities, decisions regarding operations, and the communication between agencies.

In a separate move, Representatives Gabe Amo, a Democrat from Rhode Island, and Ron Estes, a Republican from Kansas, have requested that the DOT’s Acting Inspector General, Mitch Behm, investigate how the FAA oversees airspace operations at DCA.

Congressmen Amo and Estes write:

“The FAA plays a critical role in regulating and managing the U.S. National Airspace System. We have one of the busiest and most complex aviation networks with over 45,000 flights operating in our country daily. That is why this crash raises serious questions about the effectiveness of FAA airspace management, communication processes, and deconfliction procedures in one of our nation’s most sensitive and congested aviation corridors.”

“We respectfully request your office audit the FAA’s oversight of airspace operations at and around DCA, and the FAA’s procedures for managing military aircraft operating within civilian-controlled airspace.”

What else you need to know

🆕 The Alexandria School Board held a lengthy meeting last night, which included decisions on Redistricting. ALXnow’s James Cullum will have the whole story later today on redistricting. Here are some highlights from the meeting in the meantime.

  • The School Board voted to move forward with Triangle 3 and Option E for the Middle School. This slider map offers a glimpse into what that means across the city.
  • The School Board also voted to extend the current School Resource Officer Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) for up to six months. The board requested additional time to review the proposed changes in the new MOU. The City Council had debated the changes on Tuesday.
  • After a year-long process, the School Board adopted the final Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Combined Funds (CF) Budget, totaling $392.3 million.

🇺🇸 The Wall That Heals, a traveling three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, opened to the public Thursday (June 12) at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund relocated several of its annual ceremonies from the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to Alexandria due to logistical challenges posed by the scheduled military parade.

ALXnow’s Ryan Belmore was on hand for the opening ceremony. Check out his whole story and photo gallery here.

🎤 Alexandria City Council held its second City Council Town Hall of the year on Thursday. Approximately fifty people were on hand at Charles Houston Rec Center Gymnasium as City Council members answered questions submitted by the in-person and virtual audience. ALXnow’s Ryan Belmore stopped by the event for a short while. Topics during that time included breaking the City Council into wards, removing train tracks in Old Town, changes to Winkler Botanical Preserve, ARHA changes at the Alate, and more.

Mayor Gaskins told ALXnow’s Ryan Belmore earlier this week that two additional City Council Town Hall sessions are expected later this year (in September and November).

🗳️ Reminder: Early in-person voting for Tuesday’s Democratic Primary ends tomorrow (Saturday). Here’s your guide to early voting, polling places, and what’s on the ballot.

📈 Thursday’s most read

The following are the most-read ALXnow articles for June 12, 2025.

  1. What to know about ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump’s policies (943 views)
  2. Alexandria Democratic Primary is Tuesday: Your guide to early voting, polling places, and what’s on the ballot (497 views)

📅 Upcoming events

Here’s what’s happening today and this weekend in Alexandria, courtesy of our event calendar.

More on what’s happening today (June 13).

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Organizing an event? Submit your event to ALXnow’s Event Calendar.

About the Author

  • This is the staff byline for ALXnow, used by editors and other full-time staff. Launched in October 2019, ALXnow is the place for the latest news, views and things to do around Alexandria, Virginia.