The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Friday it is taking a series of steps to improve safety Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) The Potomac River killed 67 people after a deadly air collision between a commercial aircraft and an Army Blackhawk helicopter on January 29.
The new guide comes after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommends closing A Helicopter route Near Tuesday DCA.
NTSB Board Chairman Jennifer Homendy said the location of Helicopter Highway 4 and the final approach path to DCA runway 33 are “an intolerable risk of achieving aviation safety by increasing the chances of air collisions”.
National Transportation Safety Commission Chairman Jennifer Homendy said there were many potential errors that led to the January 29 crash. (pool)
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The directive follows the FAA in a statement Friday that it has “permanently restricted non-essential helicopter operations around the DCA” and “eliminate helicopter and fixed wing hybrid traffic.”
It will also permanently close Route 4 between Hains Point and Wilson Bridge and evaluate alternative helicopter routes as recommended by NTSB.
“If the helicopter must fly through the airspace during an emergency mission, such as life-saving medical care, priority enforcement or Presidential Transport According to the FAA’s statement, the FAA will keep them away from the plane.
U.S. Army UH-60M Blackhawk helicopter. (Patryk Ogorzalek/Agent Wyborcza.pl via Reuters, file)
The statement said the FAA will also prohibit the use of runways 15/33 and 4/22 while helicopters performing emergency missions are operating near the DCA.
The fatal crash occurred in Army “flight inspection”, Killed 67 people. No survivors.
Subsequent NTSB investigations revealed that the helicopter crew may not know they were flying too high and may not hear critical information from air traffic control in front of the deadly wreckage.
On January 30, the wreckage of the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (Kevin Lamarck/Reuters)
In addition, the military’s use of “visual separation” was criticized, some of which claimed that this might have led to the disaster.
FAA announced on Friday it will limit the use of visual separation Coast GuardMarines and Park Police helicopters operate outside restricted airspace.
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Homendy said the helicopters and aircraft during the landing may be only 75 feet away during landing.
Officials said they identified 15,214 aircraft instances close to the alerts about the helicopter between October 2021 and December 2024.
NTSB investigators examined the so-called black box that crashed from a US Army Blackhawk helicopter in Washington, D.C. on January 29. (NTSB)
The Army said the Blackhawks’ crew are experienced and used to it Crowded sky Around the country’s capital.
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Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said on Tuesday that helicopters near the airport were temporarily banned.
“Why don’t the FAA know?” Duffy asked about the helicopter flow near the airport.
Louis Casiano of Fox News Digital contributed to the report.
