US agency to make restrictions on helicopters permanent after Washington mid-air collision
Source: Reuters
March 11, 2025 5:27 PM EDT Updated 11 hours ago
WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday said the agency will make permanent restrictions 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.
Duffy said he was responding to an urgent safety recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board, which had cited the "risk of mid-air collisions between helicopters," according to a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration first reported by Reuters. Duffy said he will also adopt another NTSB recommendation 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 January 29 crash between an American Airlines 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.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ntsb-release-preliminary-report-into-fatal-washington-jet-helicopter-collision-2025-03-11/