Faa ‘permanently limiting’ Washington helicopter traffic after a fatal collision in Mira
Federal Air Force Administration (FAA) said on Friday that she “took down steps” to improve safety nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) After the deadly collision on January 29, the middle collision between the commercial aircraft and the Black Hawk helicopter army across the Potomac River, which killed 67 people.
New guidelines come after the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSB) recommended to close a helicopter route near DCA Tuesday.
NTSB Committee Chairman Jennifer Homendy said that the position of helicopter route 4 and the final path to DCA Runway 33 was “an unbearable risk of aviation safety, increasing the chance for a collision in MID.”
Chairman of the National Transport Safety Committee Jennifer Homendy said there were several potential mistakes that led to the collision on January 29. (Swimming pool)
After the Directive, FAA announced in a statement on Friday that “permanently limits irrelevant helicopters surgery around DCA” and “removal of mixed helicopter and fixed wing traffic”.
It will also permanently close the route 4 between Hains Point and Wilson Most and evaluate the alternative helicopter routes as recommended by NTSB.
“If a helicopter must fly through the air space on an emergency mission, such as a rescue medical, prioritial law enforcement or presidential transport, FAA will keep them certain distances away from the plane, “the FAA statement said.
US Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter. (Patryk Ogorzalek/Acencja Wyborcza.Pl via Reuters, File)
FAA will also ban the concomitant use of runway 15/33 and 4/22 when the helicopters conducting emergency missions operate near DCA, the statement states.
A deadly collision, which occurred during Army “Flight Checking”, Killed 67 people. There were no survivors.
The NTSB’s subsequent investigation revealed that helicopter crew members may not have known that they were flying too high and may not have heard critical messages from air traffic control before the fatal wreck.
Wreck in Rijeka Potomac near National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington on January 30th. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
In addition, the military use of “visual separations” was criticized, and some claimed that it could have contributed to the disaster.
FAA announced on Friday to limit the use of visual separation to safe CoastMarine and police helicopters in the park outside the limited airspace.
Homendy said helicopters and aircraft could be close to 75 feet during landing, according to the previous report.
Officials said they had identified 15,214 cases that aircraft were narrating helicopters in the immediate vicinity between October 2021 and December 2024.
NTSB investigators examine the so-called black box recovered from the American Airlines plane that collapsed on January 29. (NTSB)
The army announced that the Black Hawk crew was very experienced and used to full of sky around the capital of the nation.
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Sean Duffy’s transport secretary said on Tuesday that a temporary prohibition of helicopters near the airport would continue.
“How did FAA don’t know?” Duffy asked about the flow of a helicopter near the airport.
Louis Casiano Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
