Feb 6 (Reuters) - U.S. air traffic controllers will be

offered the opportunity to stay past their mandatory retirement

age of 56, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox

News on Thursday in the wake of the Washington plane crash.

"I can offer them the chance to stay longer past the

mandatory retirement age of 56, pay them more...make the system

safer, alleviate the pressure on the controllers."

Duffy said the offer would be made in the coming days.

The collision over the Potomac River in Washington between

an army helicopter and an American Airlines ( AAL ) regional jet

killed 67 people last week. It was the deadliest U.S. air

disaster in more than 20 years.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas)