FAA Investigating DCA Control Tower Fight

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating a fight that broke out at a control tower in Reagan National Airport, or DCA, outside Washington, D.C.

The brawl occurred Thursday between two of the air traffic controllers and ended with blood on a control console, DailyMail.com reported. Officers arrested 39-year-old Damon Gaines of Maryland, a DCA employee, and charged him with assault and battery, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police said.

Air traffic controllers in bloody physical fight in Reagan National control tower after deadliest plane crash in 15 years https://t.co/wpTEjQ69jw

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) March 28, 2025

“The employee is on administrative leave while we investigate the matter,” an FAA spokesperson told Daily Caller in a statement.

The infamous mid-air collusion between an American Airlines plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter occurred near the airport back in January. Everyone aboard both aircraft perished, and a total of 67 people were killed. A preliminary report by the FAA found that DCA had 1,500 near misses between aircraft in the past three years. (RELATED: Families Of DCA Crash Victims Pursue Negligence Claim Against FAA, US Army)

“I’ve heard of controllers going at it in the parking lot but this was on a whole new level,” a source told DailyMail. “That facility is out of control. People are cracking because of what happened in January.”

“The people working in that tower had to sit and watch bodies being pulled out of the river. There was no way you could not see it,” the source went on to claim about the lingering effects of the January crash. “‘Leadership has not given these people enough support. They never really sent in professionals to make sure these people were okay mentally.”