WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators called

on Wednesday for increased funding and staffing for Federal

Aviation Administration air traffic control after a fatal midair

collision in the nation's capital last month highlighted the

persistent lack of aviation safety personnel.

Senators Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, and Republican John

Hoeven in a letter first reported by Reuters urged the FAA to

work with Congress and the controllers to increase funding for

operations, modernize facilities and equipment and expand the

FAA training academy's capacity.

The January 29 collision between an American Airlines ( AAL )

regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter killed 67 people

near Washington Reagan National Airport in the deadliest U.S.

air disaster in more than 20 years.

"For the sake of America's traveling public, we can and must

do better," the senators wrote. "At a minimum, we must commit to

doing all we can to reinforce our (controller) workforce and

keep tragedies like this from becoming commonplace."

The senators noted the FAA is currently more than 3,500 air

traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels and nearly

all control towers have staffing shortages. FAA controller

staffing has been relatively flat in recent years and is down

10% from 2012.

The senators said Reagan National's tower has 25

fully-certified controllers, below the targeted 30.

"As in many places across the country, (Reagan's)

controllers often work six-day weeks and ten-hour days," the

senators wrote. "The fatigue and stress that they regularly

experience as a result of this substantial workload will only

grow worse unless we take significant and long overdue

measures."

The FAA did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last week he

was reconsidering rules that allowed air traffic control

supervisors to reduce staffing before the fatal collision.

Duffy noted before the crash, two air traffic control

positions were consolidated for helicopters and aircraft.

"We're going to pull that authority back to make sure that

we have the right policies in place inside our towers to make

sure when you fly you're safe," he said.

Duffy said the FAA was using antiquated technology to

oversee flights.

He also plans to soon announce steps to surge more air

traffic control training and applicants. He could also call for

new incentives to keep retirement-eligible controllers on the

job or propose to extend the mandatory retirement age for

controllers, which is 56.