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Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
FAA officials weighed closing D.C. airport runway after close calls, sources say
Top officials at the Federal Aviation Administration, including then-Administrator Michael Whitaker, pushed last summer to close one of three runways at Washington's Reagan National Airport following two close calls between airliners still on the ground, multiple sources told CBS News. Whitaker, who resigned as FAA administrator ahead of the transition to the Trump administration, and others at the FAA wanted to close Runway 4 to traffic following an incident in April and another about six weeks later in late May. On April 18, there was a close call between Southwest Flight 2937 to Orlando and JetBlue Flight 1554 to Boston. The Southwest Boeing 737 was told to cross Runway 4 at the same time as the JetBlue Embraer 190 was cleared to take off from the same runway. Air traffic controllers ordered both planes to stop, but they came within approximately 300 feet of colliding. On May 29, there was another concerning incident at the airport. American Airlines Flight 2134, an Airbus A319 cleared to take off for Boston, was forced to hit the brakes because a private King Air aircraft was cleared to land on an intersecting runway. Air traffic controllers caught the issue, telling the American flight to stop its takeoff roll — the plane was going about 92 mph at this point — and ordering the King Air to go around, but it had already landed. The American flight had 128 passengers and five crew members on board. The move to close the runway received notable pushback and included an argument that closing it would cause additional burdens on Runway 33 — the runway American Flight 5342 was supposed to land on last Wednesday, when it and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided in midair, killing 67 people. According to an impact statement reviewed by CBS News, "Runway 04 has the added benefit of not needing to cross any runways to reach. If Runway 04 is removed, Runway 33 usage will increase. In order to get to Runway 33, Ground must cross both Runway 01 and Runway 04 while traffic is holding in position waiting to depart and traffic is approaching a 2 mile final to Runway 01." The FAA told CBS News in a statement: "Following the May 29, 2024, close call incident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), the FAA took action on May 31, 2024, by temporarily pausing flights on runway 4 at DCA, which is a limited-use runway used by small regional carriers, while we examined the complexity of multiple intersecting runways." Reagan National has three runways currently in use, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates the airport. Runway 1/19, the primary runway, is 7,169 feet long. Runway 15/33 is 5,204 feet long while Runway 4/22 is 5,000 feet long. Because of its short length, Runway 4 is used infrequently and requires additional coordination with air traffic control. It is restricted to smaller aircraft landings — primarily regional jets like the Bombardier CRJ700 and CRJ900 and the Embraer 170 or E-190 airliners. Only about one-fifth of the airport's 407 daily departures are estimated to be eligible to use Runway 4. Instead, it's more commonly used as a taxiway to get around the congested airfield. The focus on congestion at Reagan National has been ongoing in recent months after the airport authority and several area lawmakers, including Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, came out against an effort to add additional flights to the capacity-restricted airport last year. The FAA pushed back against a report calling for additional flights to be added at Reagan citing existing airport congestion issues. Ultimately Congress opted to move ahead with adding five additional long distance flights. "The slabs are federally controlled, federally mandated, and we have to follow federal regulations," Terry Liercke, a vice president for the airport authority and airport manager for Reagan National, told reporters Friday. Officials with the airport authority declined to directly address congestion concerns following last week's collision. "The United States airspace is the safest in the world. Safety is our, one of our top priorities, and we continue to ensure that the airport is safe for operations," Liercke said in response to a reporter's questions Friday. "... We work with the FAA. We are regulated by the FAA. We comply with all FAA safety regulations." Reagan is one of three capacity-controlled airports in the United States. It's sometimes referred to as slot-controlled, where each slot is a takeoff or a landing. A new route typically requires a slot pair. Since 2000, Congress has added 64 such slot pairs at Reagan, which would support an additional 32 flight routes every day. Arab-Americans who voted for Trump react to Gaza takeover plan Concern DOGE could stop Social Security, Medicare payments Netanyahu's response on U.S. soldiers in Gaza for Trump's plan
CBS News
06-02-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
FAA officials weighed closing Reagan National Airport runway after 2024 close calls, sources say
Top officials at the Federal Aviation Administration, including then-Administrator Michael Whitaker, pushed last summer to close one of three runways at Washington's Reagan National Airport following two close calls between airliners still on the ground, multiple sources told CBS News. Whitaker, who resigned as FAA administrator ahead of the transition to the Trump administration, and others at the FAA wanted to close Runway 4 to traffic following an incident in April and another about six weeks later in late May. On April 18, there was a close call between Southwest Flight 2937 to Orlando and JetBlue Flight 1554 to Boston. The Southwest Boeing 737 was told to cross Runway 4 at the same time as the JetBlue Embraer 190 was cleared to take off from the same runway. Air traffic controllers ordered both planes to stop, but they came within approximately 300 feet of colliding. On May 29, there was another concerning incident at the airport. American Airlines Flight 2134, an Airbus A319 cleared to take off for Boston, was forced to hit the brakes because a private King Air aircraft was cleared to land on an intersecting runway. Air traffic controllers caught the issue, telling the American flight to stop its takeoff roll — the plane was going about 92 mph at this point — and ordering the King Air to go around, but it had already landed. The American flight had 128 passengers and five crew members on board. The move to close the runway received notable pushback and included an argument that closing it would cause additional burdens on Runway 33 — the runway American Flight 5342 was supposed to land on last Wednesday, when it and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided in midair, killing 67 people. According to an impact statement reviewed by CBS News, "Runway 04 has the added benefit of not needing to cross any runways to reach. If Runway 04 is removed, Runway 33 usage will increase. In order to get to Runway 33, Ground must cross both Runway 01 and Runway 04 while traffic is holding in position waiting to depart and traffic is approaching a 2 mile final to Runway 01." The FAA told CBS News in a statement: "Following the May 29, 2024, close call incident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), the FAA took action on May 31, 2024, by temporarily pausing flights on runway 4 at DCA, which is a limited-use runway used by small regional carriers, while we examined the complexity of multiple intersecting runways." Reagan National has three runways currently in use, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates the airport. Runway 1/19, the primary runway, is 7,169 feet long. Runway 15/33 is 5,204 feet long while Runway 4/22 is 5,000 feet long. Because of its short length, Runway 4 is used infrequently and requires additional coordination with air traffic control. It is restricted to smaller aircraft landings — primarily regional jets like the Bombardier CRJ700 and CRJ900 and the Embraer 170 or E-190 airliners. Only about one-fifth of the airport's 407 daily departures are estimated to be eligible to use Runway 4. Instead, it's more commonly used as a taxiway to get around the congested airfield. The focus on congestion at Reagan National has been ongoing in recent months after the airport authority and several area lawmakers, including Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, came out against an effort to add additional flights to the capacity-restricted airport last year. The FAA pushed back against a report calling for additional flights to be added at Reagan citing existing airport congestion issues. Ultimately Congress opted to move ahead with adding five additional long distance flights. "The slabs are federally controlled, federally mandated, and we have to follow federal regulations," Terry Liercke, a vice president for the airport authority and airport manager for Reagan National, told reporters Friday. Officials with the airport authority declined to directly address congestion concerns following last week's collision. "The United States airspace is the safest in the world. Safety is our, one of our top priorities, and we continue to ensure that the airport is safe for operations," Liercke said in response to a reporter's questions Friday. "... We work with the FAA. We are regulated by the FAA. We comply with all FAA safety regulations." Reagan is one of three capacity-controlled airports in the United States. It's sometimes referred to as slot-controlled, where each slot is a takeoff or a landing. A new route typically requires a slot pair. Since 2000, Congress has added 64 such slot pairs at Reagan, which would support an additional 32 flight routes every day.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fatal lessons: World's worst midair collisions changed the course of aviation history
Each brought world press coverage of tragedies in the sky that left hundreds dead, mysteries swirling and quantum shifts in aviation safety. But sadly, despite decades of improvements in air-traffic control systems and jet safety, midair collisions are still a rare but unavoidable part of aviation history. Wednesday's collision between a commercial airplane and an Army helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport that killed 67 became the latest in a list of midair disasters that have haunted travelers, investigators and researchers for nearly a century. "It's the combination of the rarity as well as the almost immediacy of the tragedy, that's why it's so shocking," said University of North Dakota aviation professor Nicholas Wilson. Several experts told USA TODAY that the crash Thursday was the worst on U.S. soil since the late 80s, although there have been other notable collisions worldwide. The tragedies often galvanize sweeping changes in the industry to ensure nothing similar happens again. 'Our history has been riddled with aviation accidents since the Wright brothers,' said Air Force veteran and Western Michigan University professor Nicholas Rowe, 'and each one results in something we can learn.' Here are some of the worst, what caused them, and what changes happened after the tragedies: The last time America saw a midair disaster comparable to Wednesday's collision, it was so horrifying that it caused the entire industry to change, according to Wilson, the North Dakota aviation expert. Aeroméxico Flight 498 collided with a private plane over Los Angeles in 1986. The Piper PA-28 Cherokee clipped the tail of the commercial plane but it spelled disaster for everyone on board the two planes and many on the ground below. A total of 82 people died. The three people aboard the Cherokee were decapitated as the tail of the Aeroméxico plane tore through its cockpit, according to a National Transportation Safety Board investigation. The Cherokee slammed into a - mercifully - empty playground. Suburbanites living below the path of the Aeroméxico plane weren't so lucky. Flight 498 plummeted into a residential neighborhood, killing all 64 people on board, 15 people on the ground and injuring many others. An investigation by the transportation agency laid the blame on the Piper for entering the airspace without required clearance. The Federal Aviation Administration responded by requiring all commercial aircraft be equipped with a traffic collision avoidance system that monitors the air for other aircraft and warns pilots to either descend or ascend if another plane is nearby. The traffic collision avoidance systems have become so adept they are often more reliable than actual air traffic controllers. And crews ignoring the system's directions can lead their passengers into disaster. That's exactly what happened with BAL Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 when it collided with DHL International Aviation ME Flight 611 near the German-Swiss border in 2002, resulting in the death of all 71 aboard the two planes. The Bashkirian crew failed to follow the plane's traffic collision avoidance system, a German Federal Bureau of Aircraft investigation found, leading it to collide with the cargo airline. German investigators also laid blame on Swiss air traffic control for their management of the airspace. A distraught Russian man hunted down and killed the controller on duty in the wake of the tragedy that left the man's family dead. The collision led to a redesign of traffic collision avoidance systems to ensure directions were clear to pilots and highlighted the importance of following the traffic collision systems' directives even over conflicting orders from air traffic controllers. Aviation's first major midair collision happened when the industry was still in its Wild West days. Airspaces went unregulated, controllers left pilots responsible for keeping their distance from other aircraft and terrible tragedy ensued. The 'big one,' as Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University professor Robert Joslin calls it, happened over the Grand Canyon in 1956 when United Airlines Flight 718 collided with Trans World Airlines Flight 2. All 128 people on both planes died, making it the first commercial airline collision with over 100 deaths. The two planes were headed from Los Angeles to the Midwest when they collided over Arizona. Authorities responded by heightening air traffic control regulations to ensure pilots wouldn't be left to fend for themselves. 'Sometimes things like this have to happen to get things moving along,' Joslin said. 'It's very unfortunate.' The paramount need for aircraft vigilance even extends to when planes are on the ground. The worst collision of all time happened on a crowded tarmac on the Spanish island of Tenerife in 1977. KLM Flight 4805 was taking off when it ran broadside into Pan Am Flight 1736. All 248 people on board the KLM plane died; 335 of the 396 people on the Pan Am plane died. 583 died in total. The disaster happened amid a crowded day at the airport. Many aircraft had been diverted to Tenerife because of a bomb threat at another nearby destination. Visibility was poor due to fog. Spanish authorities concluded the KLM captain mistakenly believed air traffic control signaled the plane to take off. The disaster highlighted the importance of developing a standardized language for aeronautical communications and instilling exact compliance with air traffic control instructions. The world's deadliest midair collision also happened amid mistaken commands from air traffic control when Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907 collided with Saudia Flight 763 over the northern Indian city of Charkhi Dadri in 1996. All 349 people on board both planes died, making it the deadliest midair collision ever. Investigators found poor English language skills among the crew led them to misinterpret directions from air traffic control. They also found the crew aboard the Kazakhstan Airlines plane failed to maintain the proper altitude. India's aviation agency mandated all aircraft flying in and out of the country have a system to help avoid collisions. The mandates paved the way for traffic collision avoidance systems to be used worldwide. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fatal lessons: World's worst midair tragedies changed aviation history
