Safety Board Calls For Helicopter Ban On Certain Routes Near Dc Airport: 'intolerable Risk'

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday issued two “urgent” safety recommendations after discovering thousands of close calls between helicopters and planes near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following a midair collision in January.

The board recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) permanently ban certain helicopter routes around the airport, also known as DCA, when specific runways are in use following the Jan. 29 crash between an Army helicopter and a commercial jet that killed 67 people.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy called the existing separation distances between helicopter traffic and aircraft landing at certain runways at the airport “insufficient” and “an intolerable risk to aviation safety.” 

The recommended ban is a direct result of the devastating accident between Black Hawk pilots who collided with an American Airlines plane, killing all those on board both aircraft. 

The initial investigation found the helicopter was flying at 278 feet — above the 200-foot limit for that location — when it crashed into Flight 5342 just before 9 p.m. as the jet was en route to DCA from Wichita, Kan. The collision sent both aircraft plunging into the Potomac River, the deadliest such accident since 2001. 

By Homendy’s telling, the incident was poised to happen after years of thousands of close calls around the airport, located in Arlington, Va., across the Potomac River from the U.S. Capitol. Military helicopters regularly conduct exercises, local law enforcement patrol the area, and government officials are ferried to and from certain locations in the area.

She pointed to 15,214 reported occurrences of “close proximity events” between commercial airplanes and helicopters near the airport between October 2021 and December 2024.

What’s more, at least one traffic alert and collision avoidance system was triggered per month from 2011 to 2024 due to a plane’s proximity to a helicopter. 

“It does make me angry, but it also makes me feel incredibly devastated for families that are grieving because they lost loved ones,” she told reporters at a press conference to unveil a preliminary investigation report.

“It shouldn't take a tragedy like this to occur. Unfortunately, one did, and so we are calling on action, but there clearly were indicators where safety trending could have occurred,” she added.

The NTSB is specifically recommending that the FAA permanently prohibit operations on helicopter Route 4, between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge along the Potomac River, while runways 15 and 33 are being used for departures and arrivals at DCA. 

Because a total closure of the route would restrict a vital aviation corridor used for law enforcement activity, Coast Guard patrols and government operations, the board also recommended that the FAA designate an alternative helicopter route that can be used when that specific segment of Route 4 is closed. 

The FAA had already temporarily barred most helicopters near the airport until it could review the NTSB's initial findings.