A Delta Air Lines plane is towed into position to prepare for takeoff at Reagan National Airport after an American Airlines plane crashed on approach to the airport, in Arlington, Virginia, on Jan. 30, 2025.
Tasos Katopodis | Getty Images
The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday made an urgent call to permanently restrict helicopter flights in certain areas around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following January’s deadly collision of an airliner and an Army Black Hawk helicopter.
The existing separation between helicopters operating near the airport and arriving aircraft on one of the runways, 33, poses “an intolerable risk to aviation safety by increasing the chances of a midair collision at DCA,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a news conference.
She said the agency, which is in charge of the crash investigation, is recommending that the Federal Aviation Administration “permanently” prohibit helicopter operations on a certain route at specific times when two of the airport’s runways are in use.
The NTSB also recommended an alternate route for helicopters when portions of airspace are closed so air traffic controllers are not overloaded because it “has the potential to increase risk.”
The Jan. 29 midair collision of an American Airlines regional jet with the Army Black helicopter killed all 64 people on the plane and the three crew members on the helicopter. The plane was moments away from landing at the airport.
Following the crash, the FAA restricted some helicopter traffic around the airport as a precaution. The airspace is congested with commercial flights and a host of military and VIP helicopter traffic in the area.
After the NTSB’s press conference on Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the agency is accepting the safety board’s recommendations.
