Arlington’s congressman is throwing his support behind permanent flight traffic changes at Reagan National Airport following January’s fatal midair crash.
In a Friday letter, Rep. Don Beyer (D) and nine other lawmakers supported ending helicopter operations along the Potomac River between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge when runways 15 and 33 are in use.
They want to designate an alternative helicopter route but noted that “this recommendation should not result in relocating helicopter traffic over nearby residential areas.”
The representatives’ letter echoed recent recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board, which the Federal Aviation Administration is in the process of implementing.
“The airspace around National Airport is oversaturated — this has become abundantly clear by both the NTSB preliminary report and years of reports of near-miss encounters within National Airport’s airspace,” the co-signers wrote. “Prohibiting helicopter traffic within the immediate area adjacent to National Airport is a necessary safety measure to protect American lives.”
Additionally, lawmakers called for a review of the airport’s current flight volume to ensure that the number of arrivals and departures “is compatible with the workload that our aviation safety personnel can handle.”
“We must ensure that the volume of flights is manageable for our aviation safety systems, and does not cause compounded delays pushing flights into unnecessarily late hours and causing further complications,” they wrote. “National Airport’s aviation safety personnel and systems must be able to reasonably accommodate the airport’s flight volume within normal flight hours.”
U.S. Reps. André Carson (D-Ind.), Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), April McClain Delaney (D-Md.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.), and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) co-signed the letter. They addressed it to the heads of the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Transportation and the U.S. Army.
A preliminary investigation report on the Jan. 29 aircraft collision noted numerous instances of helicopters and planes passing close by each other in the DCA airspace. A review of operations between October 2021 and December 2024 found 85 instances of commercial airplanes and helicopters passing with a lateral separation of less than 1,500 feet and a vertical separation of less than 200 feet.
Two days after the crash, which killed all 67 people aboard both the American Airlines jet and the Black Hawk Army helicopter, the FAA issued a Notice to Airmen prohibiting almost all helicopter traffic over the Potomac near Reagan National.
An “urgent” recommendation from the NTSB on March 7 called for making such a ban permanent when runways 15 and 33 are being used for departures and arrivals. It also recommended designating an alternative route to be used when this segment of the helicopter route is closed.
On March 14, the FAA announced that it would follow these recommendations and take steps to permanently restrict “non-essential helicopter operations” around DCA and eliminate “helicopter and fixed-wing mixed traffic.”
As safety restrictions have tightened, delays at Reagan National have increased substantially. Last month, 34% of the airport’s arrivals were delayed and over 7% of all flights were canceled, The Washington Post reported.
A complete press release from Beyer’s office is below.
U.S. Representative Don Beyer (D-VA), joined by Representatives André Carson (D-IN), Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Glenn Ivey (D-MD), April McClain Delaney (D-MD), Jennifer McClellan (D-VA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today called for immediate and permanent changes to ensure airspace safety at Washington National Airport following the release of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)’s preliminary report on the tragic midair collision at National Airport on January 29.
The lawmakers expressed deep concern over the findings in the NTSB preliminary report, voiced support for NTSB’s recommendations, and commended Secretary Duffy for the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) prompt response to the NTSB’s preliminary report, including the decision to close helicopter Route 4. The lawmakers also urged relevant agencies to take further precautions including by decreasing the total helicopter volume in the National Capital Region, reviewing helicopter routes in the National Capital Region with a specific focus on lateral dimensions, establishing an alternative helicopter route that avoids redirecting air traffic over residential areas, and conducting a review of the existing flight volume in and out of National Airport.
In the letter, the lawmakers write:
“Following last week’s release of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)’s preliminary report on the tragic midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (“National Airport”) on January 29, 2025, we write to express renewed concerns and echo NTSB’s call for permanent changes to address contributing factors to this collision.
“We echo Chair Homendy’s concern that the history of close proximity incidents at National Airport and this collision at National Airport demonstrate an ‘intolerable risk to aviation safety.
“We resoundingly support NTSB’s recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to take the following actions:
1. Prohibit operations on helicopter Route 4 between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge when runways 15 and 33 are being used for departures and arrivals, respectively, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
2. Designate an alternative helicopter route that can be used to facilitate travel between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge when that segment of Route 4 is closed.
“The airspace around National Airport is oversaturated—this has become abundantly clear by both the NTSB preliminary report and years of reports of near miss encounters within National Airport’s airspace. Prohibiting helicopter traffic within the immediate area adjacent to National Airport is a necessary safety measure to protect American lives. And while we agree with the recommendation to consider alternate flight routes for helicopter traffic, we believe that this recommendation should not result in relocating helicopter traffic over nearby residential areas. We request that the FAA keep Congress apprised of and involved with the planning process when evaluating and selecting an alternative helicopter route.
“We also request that the FAA and NTSB review the existing flight volume in and out of National Airport, to ensure that the current volume of flights is compatible with the workload that our aviation safety personnel can handle. While moving helicopter traffic further from National Airport would alleviate some burden on aviation safety personnel, we remain concerned by historical near miss statistics identified by the NTSB report and by the lower than recommended number of air traffic controllers currently working at National Airport. We must ensure that the volume of flights is manageable for our aviation safety systems, and does not cause compounded delays pushing flights into unnecessarily late hours and causing further complications. National Airport’s aviation safety personnel and systems must be able to reasonably accommodate the airport’s flight volume within normal flight hours.
“The NTSB preliminary report documents the confluence of circumstances under which this tragic collision occurred. We stand ready to support NTSB as it continues its full investigation of the root causes of this collision. The federal government’s work in response to this collision will be far from finished even when these preliminary recommendations are adopted. It is imperative that we begin to act now to prevent the known dangers of an overcrowded airspace and close proximity of airplane flight paths and helicopter routes from contributing to a future collision.
