U.S. Safety Regulators Push for Restrictions on Helicopters Near DCA Following Crash

The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on a fatal collision near Reagan National Airport.

The agency is pressing the Federal Aviation Administration to permanently prohibit helicopter operations near Reagan National, with chair Jennifer Homendy calling it “an intolerable risk to aviation safety by increasing the chance of a midair collision,” during a press conference Tuesday afternoon. 

“It’s stronger than an oversight,” Homendy said. “The data we pulled is from a voluntary safety reporting system that the FAA could have used any time that data … to determine we have a trend here, and a problem here and looked at that route.”

The fatal collision took place in January between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, making it one of the deadliest U.S. aviation incidents in recent history. 

Specifically, the NTSB is asking the FAA to prohibit helicopter operations at Reagan National when runways 15 and 33 are in use. 

The FAA restricted helicopter traffic around the airport following the crash. The NTSB also recommended that helicopters have an alternate route to operate in and around Washington, D.C. without increasing air traffic controllers’ workload. 

The incident also brought on renewed scrutiny to an air traffic controller shortage that has afflicted the industry since the Washington, D.C. airport is heavily slot constrained. 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently announced that the federal government would do a hiring surge for air traffic controllers to address the shortage. The Department of Transportation said it would also raise the starting salaries of air traffic controllers who go through training at the FAA Academy by 30%.

Duffy is set to speak about the NTSB’s report on the collision at 4 p.m. ET.