Transportation Department deploying artificial intelligence to spot air traffic dangers, Duffy says

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy precocious announced that artificial quality (AI) is being utilized to observe and code aerial postulation risks, pursuing a slew of near-misses and fatal level crashes crossed the country.

Duffy told FOX 5 DC that officials are implementing AI to "identify and code imaginable aerial postulation risks nationwide," perchance aiding successful preventing tragedies similar the fatal Jan. 29 midair collision astatine Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) that claimed the lives of 67 people.

Following the Potomac River crash, which progressive a commercial plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter, Duffy announced a program to physique a caller "state-of-the-art" postulation power strategy that volition equip locations with amended exertion to trim outages, amended ratio and reenforce safety.

Duffy told FOX 5 that erstwhile investigators were looking into however to forestall collisions, they asked themselves, "Are determination immoderate different DCAs retired there?"

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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks during a quality league pursuing up connected the issuance of the National Transportation Safety Board preliminary study connected the mid-air collision adjacent Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, connected Tuesday, March 11. Duffy aboriginal announced a caller "state of the art" aerial postulation power system. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) antecedently said it identified 15,214 instances of planes getting alerts astir helicopters successful adjacent proximity adjacent DCA betwixt October 2021 and December 2024.

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Duffy said the Department of Transportation is present utilizing AI to "help america analyse antithetic blistery spots successful the country" and instrumentality enactment "before you person the calamity of what we saw connected the 29th of January."

It is unclear however blistery spots are being identified, and which information concerns AI is being used to hunt for.

Passengers get astatine Terminal B astatine Newark Liberty International Airport successful Newark, New Jersey connected May 7, 2025. (KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

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It is besides uncertain if the caller exertion could beryllium utilized to code caller staffing concerns and outages astatine Newark Liberty Internal Airport, which Duffy attributed to the erstwhile administration's transportation of airspace power from New York to Philadelphia.

"We person an antiquated and aged aerial postulation power system, anyplace from 25 to 35 [years old], 40 years aged successful immoderate places. It is successful hopeless request of a marque caller build," Duffy said during a quality league connected Wednesday. 

AI is not being utilized to place "hot spots" successful U.S. airspaces. (J. David Ake/Getty Images)

"The past medication signed a 15-year declaration to upgrade the telecom [wiring with fibre lines]," helium continued. "It shows however determination was not a absorption connected the existent issues that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was facing… We are not going to walk the buck. We're really going to hole it. We're going to bash the work, to marque definite that we bash person a state-of-the-art aerial postulation power system."

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The Department of Transportation did not instantly respond to Fox News Digital's petition for comment.