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Congested airspace over Washington DC poses safety risks

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FAA audit targets runway incursion risks at busiest U.S.

airports

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Army and Defense Department launch investigation into

collision

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Reagan is the 24th-busiest U.S. airport by passengers

(Adds graphics links)

By David Shepardson

ARLINGTON, Virginia, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The crash of an

American Airlines ( AAL ) passenger jet and a U.S. Army Black

Hawk helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport on

Wednesday highlighted issues around the congested airspace

shared by civilian and military aircraft over the U.S. capital.

Military helicopters and passenger airplanes are a common sight

along the Potomac River in the Washington region, where the

collision happened. The area is home to numerous military bases

and three major airports.

There have been several near-miss incidents at Reagan National

Airport that have sparked alarm, including a near-collision in

May 2024 between an American Airlines ( AAL ) jet and a small airplane

and one in April 2024 between Southwest and JetBlue airplanes.

The close calls coincide with a shortage of air traffic

controllers that has delayed flights and raised safety concerns

across the United States. The FAA in October opened an audit

into runway incursion risks at the 45 busiest U.S. airports

after a series of near-miss incidents.

Reagan National is particularly busy. Over a three-year

period ending in 2019, there were 88,000 helicopter flights

within 30 miles (48 km) of Reagan National Airport, including

about 33,000 military and 18,000 law enforcement flights, the

Government Accountability Office said in a 2021 report.

Wednesday evening's midair collision occurred as the passenger

jet flying from Wichita was approaching to land at Reagan. Radio

communications between the air traffic control tower and the

Black Hawk showed the helicopter crew knew the plane was in the

vicinity.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday the

flight paths of the two aircraft were not unusual for the area

and that both the helicopter and the airplane had been flying

standard flight patterns.

Of the three major airports in the region, Reagan National

is closest to the capital. Because of the short length of its

runways, over 90% of flights use its main runway, making it the

busiest in the U.S., with over 800 daily takeoffs and landings.

That effectively means a takeoff or landing every minute during

much of the day. Reagan is the 24th-busiest U.S. airport by

passengers. Congress last year approved five new roundtrip

flights to Washington.

Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration would "take

appropriate action if necessary to modify flight paths" to

ensure adequate separation between civilian airplanes and

military helicopters.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said an investigation had

been launched by the Army and Defense Department.

Senator Jerry Moran, who heads a Senate aviation

subcommittee, told Reuters the immediate focus was on trying to

save lives but that after the mission was over, Congress would

investigate what went wrong.

"Then we're going to find out what happened," Moran said.

INCURSION AUDIT

A February 2023

near miss in Austin, Texas

was a wake up call on the issue after a FedEx cargo plane

that had been set to land on a runway on which a Southwest

Airlines jet was also cleared to depart from.

The two planes came close to colliding when the FedEx plane

was forced to overfly the Southwest plane to avoid a crash, two

sources briefed on the matter told Reuters at the time.

Over the last two years, a series of near-miss incidents

have raised concerns about U.S. aviation safety and the strain

on understaffed air-traffic-control operations.

The FAA's runway incursion audit will include a risk

profile for each airport, along with identifying potential gaps

in procedures, equipment, and processes, and recommendations to

improve safety and is expected to be concluded in early 2025.

The FAA Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service is conducting

the review and the agency added it "is committed to identifying

and mitigating risk at every level."

To be sure, former FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said

last October the number of serious runway-incursion incidents

had fallen by over 50%.