Washington DC
CNN
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When the senator grilled the Federal Aviation Administration last week, the FAA acting chief responded, “something has been missed,” as to how the agency could have had a massive amount of close calls between helicopters and commercial jet liners occur at the Washington National Airport.
According to Daily Crafton, who was present, the idea was “too little, too late.” In January, his brothers killed 67 people when an American Airlines regional jet landing at the airport collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on the Potomac River.
The National Transportation Safety Board discovered 15,214 “near miss events” at the airport between 2021 and 2024. There, the aircraft were within a mile of each other, with vertical separation of less than 400 feet. Also, according to the NTSB, there were 85 cases where the aircraft were much closer, with vertical separations of less than 1,500 feet, far closer to less than 1,500 feet.
“There have been a lot of reports. We'll investigate all the collisions near the air,” said Chris Rochero, who plays the FAA administrator at a crash hearing. “We have a team that goes out and evaluates the airspace itself.”
The 860 acres of “excessive” Reagan National Airport has long been one of the busiest airports in the country, according to the Union for Protecting Regional Airports in the United States. In 2023, it served 25.5 million passengers. This exceeds Dulles International Airport, the counterpart that caters to 25.1 million people.
According to Metropolitan Washington Airport officials, the main runway at Reagan National Airport is the busiest runway in the country, with over 800 takeoffs and landings every day. The airport has 58 total gates and three runways.
It is becoming increasingly complicated by limited airspace and government buildings. The White House is about two miles from the edge of the runway, and the plane forces a curved approach and departure.
“They could have solved it this year,” Allen Campbell said. “When you consider most of the major airports in America, most of the major airports in Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami, helicopters don't fly within five miles of that airport without really important clearance. So I think Ronald Reagan just abused the surgery for years.
Pilots flying around DC are aware of all the restrictions, Campbell said. He believes the airport is “miscontrolled.”
Veteran pilot Darrell Feller flew helicopters around an airport near the country's capital when he first worked for the National Guard and then for US customs and border protection. He also separately spent time flying the planes for Alaska Airlines.
Feller recalled the incident as he flew south through the helicopter on the same route. The Black Hawks were on a terrifying day in January. The commercial jet had simultaneously landed on Runway 33 at Reagan Airport.
“We were a little further away than this incident at the DCA, but we didn't know about the airliner,” Feller said. “I got lost in the lights in the city. I couldn't see it. I knew it was there so I was late. I went down a little.”
It made Feller “more careful” as a pilot.
Since the crash on January 29th, the NTSB has issued an urgent recommendation to restrict helicopter traffic at airports. The FAA immediately adopted the recommendation. However, these restrictions may not be sufficient as airports continue to see more safety-related issues.
Although there have been no fatal commercial air collisions in the United States since 2009, the fatal air collision in January raised concerns about the crowded DC airport.
In February, about a month after the air collision, an American Airlines flight arrived at Reagan National Airport was forced to suspend its landing to avoid another aircraft. “A 'go-around' was made to ensure that separation was maintained between the advance departures from the same runway as this aircraft. The FAA told CNN.
Go-arounds are frequent, but the incident has increased attention to airport airspace.
According to the FAA, GoAround arrived in 2023 at 30 airports with the highest number of operations, a group that includes Reagan National, accounting for around 0.39% of arrivals in 2023.
A mysterious crash warning on a commercial jet landing at Reagan was also reported around March 1, only a few miles from the location of the January accident.
Several flight crews reported mystery alerts about the traffic collision avoidance system known as the TCAS.
At a hearing about an airborne crash last week, the FAA confirmed that these warnings were caused by testing anti-drone systems by the US Navy and the Secret Service.
To add to the incident at Reagan National Airport, an air traffic controller was arrested Thursday for attack and battery after a “incident” at Control Tower, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority. The 39-year-old controller took administrative leave during the investigation by the FAA, the agency told CNN.
“Apparently the Navy used the same spectral band as the TCAS, causing interference and recommendations for solutions,” Sen. Ted Cruz said at the hearing. “Though the FAA had previously warned the Navy and Secret Service against using that particular spectral band for the risk of interference.”
Another closing call over the past week has prompted investigations from both the FAA and the NTSB.
On Friday, a crash warning sounded in the cockpit of Delta Air Lines' aircraft, where flights of military training jets take off from the airport in the past.
The FAA said in a statement that four U.S. Air Force T-38 Talons were inbound to Arlington National Cemetery for the elevated road.
A preliminary report on the incident will be issued within 30 days.
Kite also attacked a United Airlines flight from Houston on Saturday in Washington. According to United, the plane was undamaged and landed safely.
Law enforcement is located in the kit, flying to Grubbly Point, in the park, hundreds of feet from the northern end of the airport runway.
Some pilots, like Campbell, believe airport problems could be resolved more quickly.
The issue of congestion remains at Reagan National Airport, according to Philip Ansell, an associate professor at the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. He said that air transport almost doubles every 15-20 years due to rapid growth.
Reagan National Airport also handles “slot rules” created by the FAA. There you need to schedule off and landings in advance to reduce crowds. However, that rule has since changed. Last year, Congress approved long-distance flights at the airport.
In March, Reagan National Airport was scheduled for more than 26,000 flights. According to aviation analysis company Cirium, they are paying attention to the growing season of the region's highly popular cherry blossom season. It offers approximately 2.7 million seats available to passengers.
“When it comes to the airport runway, it's bursting in the seams,” he said.
