Reagan National Airport has been disturbed by the legislators for years, but the fast access to power has stopped changes
Ask many frequent Congress flyers, and they will tell you that Ronald Reagan National Airport has been sending red flags for years.
“I was very very, very nervous about the congestion in Reagan National,” said Senator Tim Kaine, D-Va.
“Confusion Air space around Reagan and DC On the whole, he definitely played a role in this, “said Senator Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., Former Fire Pilot.” The whole number of aircraft in the air is as tall as ever. “
“A lot of transit aircraft upstairs and down Potomac,” said senator Mark Kelly, D-ARIZ, a former Navy fighter pilot and astronaut. “Entering and exiting certain areas. Pentagon. Other military installations. Reagan right there in that high trade area.”
“Whenever I am in Reagan and see that a new door is being built, the terminal is getting bigger, I realize that there will never be another inch of the runway. The sky is quite congested,” said Senator Kevin Cramer, Rn.d. “Often I think there are too many activities for this small land. And I’m sure there will be a re -evaluation of all that.”
Jetblue Airlines Airbus A320 Jet flies next to the Capitol American dome because it comes to a landing at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The worst air catastrophe in the country for almost a quarter of a century spilled over to the Potomac River On Wednesday night, only at the National Airport of Reagan. Sixty -seven people died after the American Eagle Let 5342 of Wichit, Kan.
Aviation experts say the flight to Reagan National is one of the most complicated airports in the country. Access from the north and south is over water. The pilots must move the narrow hallway above the river – but not fly over a nearby pentagon. This means nothing about the piercing of Washington, DC’s super protective airspace. The White House and the American Capitol are obviously visible when aircraft are flying north.
Moreover, the airport is known for notoriously short runways. The runway on which the US Eagle Flight tried to land stretches just over 5,200 feet. Slightly less than a mile length.
It’s not even a major runway. Standard commercial runways average about 13,000 feet. The longest runway in Reagan National is about 7000 feet. Plus, all three runways cross each other. Such configuration is rarely seen at modern airports.
A collision in Mirair between the Military helicopter American Airlines and the Black Hawk military helicopter near the National Airport of Reagan near Washington, DC, was seen on a Dashcam video from the common base of Anacostia Bolling. (Story)
Last spring were two incidents where the planes almost collapsed in each other as they crossed the runway.
The runways are some of the most exaggerated in the entire US flight system. The airport is designed to process 14 million passengers a year. But that number increased to 25 million 2023. The airport accepts a whopping 800 take -off and landing every day.
There was an effort to close the Reagan national when the Dulles International Airport opened in 1962. Dulles is the monstrousness of the campus. However, there are almost 30 miles from Washington, DC, properly. National drivers and shakers never gravitated to Dulles when it was so easy to fly to Reagan’s national, exhaust, catch a taxi and get to State Department for a meeting 15 minutes later.
Legislators, aviation, national security officers and Secret service He took serious conversations about the permanent closure of the airport after September 11. UI Air Transport was thought to be too much risk for the Government headquarters. It should not be much to command the aircraft and divert it to Capitol Hill.
After all, one plane crashed into Pentagon on September 11th. Fourth plane – which descended in a field near Shanksville, Penn. – He was ultimately related to the capitol.
DC Crash aircraft: Search for River Potomac River, complicated by the conditions of their control
Random workers recover debris from the Potomac River after the collision of an American flight of Eagle 5342 and Black Hawk helicopter, as can be seen from Virginia, January 30, 2025. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)
Accordingly, advocates for the maintenance of Reagan’s Nacional claimed that it was almost impossible to abduct the plane and immediately send it to a boreping toward the capitol. It takes a while for the abduction engineer. There was simply not enough time to perform such a second plan after taking off.
Still, the authorities closed Reagan National more than three weeks after September 11. The new security rules were set after the airport reopened. The aircraft could not have more than 156 seats. All passengers had to sit half an hour before landing. The air marshals patrolled most if not all flights at and off the airport.
The federations have loosened many of these restrictions anywhere from a few months to almost four years after September 11. But that did not diminish questions about the safety of this specific airport.
Victims identified in an airline accident involving jet and military helicopter American Airlines
However, the advocates of the maintenance of Reagan’s National had some of the most powerful allies in the country: Congress members.
MPs hold a crazy schedule. In fact, the invention of a jet aircraft contributed to such a beadlam. MPs are in great search in their districts or countries – and on the Capitol hill. This means nothing about conferences in Aspen or Halifax – and brilliant funds raising in New York or San Francisco. So, air trips, along with an approach to a nearby airport, is most important in the modern congress.
The importance of aviation is even built into Congress vernacular.
Mondays or Tuesdays are often considered to be “flying”. The home and the Senate really does not go until late in the day during the first day of the week. So, voices on Monday may not take place until 5:30 pm in Senate and 6:30 in the house. Depending on whether the house (and sometimes the Senate) will be assembled on Monday or Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, escape days. The house could reduce the city until late morning or noon on the day of escape. If the Senate is not going for five days (which has happened a lot this year, but not this week), the last vote often hits about 2:15 pm or 14:30. Thursday.
Thus, legislators have an interest in retaining the Reagan national operational. Even after September 11.
The Congress re -approved the Federal Air Force Programs (FAA) for five years in 2024, but one of the most specific issues in the law proposal was whether the Congress should be approved by additional daily “slots” for Reagan National. New regular flights start in a few weeks for Las Vegas, San Diego, Seattle, San Antonio and San Francisco. MPs blessed an increase of about 50 additional daily “places” to Reagan National from the turn of the century.
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This says that only four senators opposed the FAA law last year. All four were local Washington, DC, Senators of the Area: Former Senator Ben Cardin, D-MD Chris van Hollen, D-md., Mark Warner, D-Va., And Kaine.
The Senate was confirmed on Tuesday by Sean Duffy’s transport secretary at a two -sided vote. Duffy faced a crisis until Wednesday night. Until Friday, the new secretary tightened the airspace around Reagan National for helicopters.
But like everything in Washington, the key to Reagan’s national is everything in approach. It is difficult to find any larger airport on the planet that is so close to the power lever.
And as long as the White House, American Capitol, Pentagon, countless federal agencies and lobbying stores exist in Washington, it is doubtful that Reagan National is going anywhere.
Chris Pandolfo contributed to Fox News.
