One air traffic controller was doing work normally assigned to two people in the tower at Reagan National when the collision happened, according to a report by the Federal Aviation Administration obtained by The Associated Press.

NBC News' Tom Costello reports on how the air traffic control staffing at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) was "allowed, but not ideal," under the FAA’s safety standards.

While that office may be ready to go to work, the FAA itself is not fully on the job. That’s because it’s without an administrator. Michael Whitaker, who had led the administration since Oct., 2023, stepped down earlier this month,

Mike Whitaker, the previous FAA administrator, stepped down on Inauguration Day after just over a year on the job. He’d repeatedly clashed with Elon Musk — now in charge of a group tasked with slashing the government’s headcount by President Donald Trump — over safety issues at his space company,

In a statement, President Trump said the drone flights that had gripped New Jersey were not enemy or foreign crafts.

New Jersey Assemblyman Brian Bergen told NewsNation that he’s dubious that drones have anything to do with Federal Aviation Administration research. “Why would the FAA put … temporary flight restrictions all over New Jersey in response to the drone issue when there was no drone issue and it was of their own making?