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NTSB urges FAA to restrict helicopter flights near Reagan

National Airport

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FAA temporarily barred helicopters after January collision

killed 67 people

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Airlines group calls for permanent reduction of helicopter

traffic

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - The National

Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday made an urgent safety

recommendation to prevent helicopters from flying near

Washington Reagan National Airport when two lesser-used runways

are operational, a move that followed a mid-air collision in

January that killed 67 people.

The NTSB justified its recommendation because of "risk of

mid-air collisions between helicopters," according to a letter

to the Federal Aviation Administration first reported by

Reuters. It also is recommending that the FAA create an

alternate route that can be used by helicopters when the two

secondary runways at Reagan National are in use.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a press conference the

prior rules for the two lesser-used runways at Reagan National

created "an intolerable risk to aviation safety," saying there

could be as little as 75 feet (23 meters) separating a

helicopter and plane approaching one of those runways.

In the aftermath of the Jan. 29 crash between an American

Airlines ( AAL ) passenger jet and a Black Hawk military helicopter over

the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., the FAA temporarily

barred most helicopters near the airport - located in Arlington,

Virginia - until it could review the NTSB's initial findings.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy plans to discuss the

findings at a press briefing later on Tuesday.

The Black Hawk, carrying a crew of three, collided with the

American Airlines ( AAL ) jet, which was carrying 64 passengers and crew

members, with the wreckage plunging into the river. There were

no survivors.

After the crash, the FAA imposed an interim restriction that

prevented civilian planes from being in the same area when

police, medical or presidential transportation helicopters must

use the airspace around Reagan National.

The NTSB recommendation would allow helicopters to fly when

airplanes were using Runway 1 at Reagan National, which handles

about 90% of the airport's traffic.

Airlines for America, a group representing American

Airlines ( AAL ) and other U.S. carriers, last week urged the FAA to

permanently reduce helicopter traffic around the airport. The

group called on the FAA to suspend some nearby helicopter routes

with limited exceptions for essential military or medical

emergencies.

The airline group wants the FAA to evaluate whether

helicopter routes that may conflict with airplane flights at

Reagan could be moved farther away from commercial traffic. It

also has urged the FAA to conduct an immediate review of air

traffic near large airports.

The FAA is conducting a review of helicopter routes near

other airports.

Duffy has called for ending non-essential military helicopter

flights near Reagan National.

"If we have generals who are flying in helicopters for

convenience through this airspace, that's not acceptable. Get a

damn Suburban and drive - you don't need to take a helicopter,"

he said.