WASHINGTON, July 29 (Reuters) -

The Federal Aviation Administration failed to act despite

dozens of near-miss incidents before a fatal January crash

between an American Airlines ( AAL ) regional jet and an Army

helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, U.S.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Tuesday.

"The mistake was that this was not unforeseen. We had 84

near misses in the three years before in the D.C. air space, and

no one did anything," Duffy told reporters. "Someone was asleep

at the wheel. Someone should have seen that."

The January 29 crash, which killed 67 people, occurred

just days after President Donald Trump took office.

Duffy said it was unclear if the safety data had been

elevated to then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg or the

FAA leadership under President Joe Biden.

The National Transportation Safety Board disclosed in March

that since 2021 there were 15,200 air separation incidents near

Reagan between commercial airplanes and helicopters, including

85 close-call events.

Duffy said the FAA was looking at other recent near-miss

incidents and potential hot spots.

"We've seen some near misses recently. We're not

ignoring that," Duffy added, saying the FAA was considering

"what moves do we have to take to make sure it doesn't happen

again."

Lawmakers from both parties have questioned why the FAA

failed to act for years to address close calls involving

helicopters near Reagan.

"Clearly,

something was missed

," FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau told senators in

March.

The FAA in early May barred the Army from helicopter

flights around the Pentagon

after a May 1 close call

that forced two civilian planes to abort landings.

The NTSB is holding a three-day investigative hearing into

the January crash starting on Wednesday. The NTSB will review

the Army helicopter air data systems and altimeters as well as

FAA oversight of Washington airspace.

On Tuesday, Senator Ted Cruz and several other

Republican senators unveiled legislation to require the use of

ADS-B, an advanced aircraft-tracking technology, by military

helicopters near civilian planes and the use of ADS-B for all

civilian aircraft. The accident helicopter was not using ADS-B

at the time of the January collision.