The head of the National Transportation Safety Board sharply criticized U.S. officials for failing to act before the January 29 collision of a U.S. Army helicopter with an American Airlines regional jet in Washington that killed 67 people.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday the Federal Aviation Administration failed to act despite dozens of near miss incidents before a fatal Jan. 29 crash between an American Airlines regional jet and Army helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport that killed 67 people.

The National Transportation Safety Board will hold three days of hearings on the fatal midair collision between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy requested the audit to see if the move had a role in communications and radar outages at the Newark airport this spring.

Staff are burnt out — and very concerned about safety and feel very strongly that those moved to Philadelphia should come back to this facility,” Gillen said.

Federal audit ordered to review FAA's controversial transfer of air traffic controllers from New York to Philadelphia.