In the wake of a deadly collision near Reagan National Airport, two Virginia congressmembers have been voicing concerns over D.C.’s crowded airspace for years.
In the wake of a deadly collision near Reagan National Airport between a passenger plane and an Army helicopter, two Virginia congress members said they’ve been voicing concerns over D.C.’s crowded airspace for “many, many years.”
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner told WTOP early Thursday that he and fellow commonwealth Sen. Tim Kaine, “and the whole congressional delegation have raised the fact that we’ve got some most crowded airspace in the country.”
He said decisions about the skies over the nation’s capital should be left to the Federal Aviation Administration and pointed out that there are many jurisdictions in the region — and added that it remains unclear whether aircraft congestion led to the collision.
“So let’s let the (National Transportation Safety Board) do their job,” Warner said.
Rep. Don Beyer, who represents Virginia’s 8th Congressional District, echoed Warner’s concerns.
“It is way too busy,” Beyer said. “And I think that’s been the perception of many, many people. I don’t know that busyness was the cause of last night. We don’t want to do cause and effect. It’s a larger picture issue.”
He admitted that he wasn’t sure what changes to call for regarding what are called “slot rules” — a federal regulation established to manage congestion at five high-density airports, including Reagan National.
“Obviously, we’ve been working on perimeter slot rules for a long time, but this may have had nothing to do with perimeter slot,” Beyer said. “It seemed like you had military aircraft and an incoming plane in the exact same airspace at the same time. We don’t know why.”
All 64 people aboard an American Airlines jet that collided with an Army helicopter were feared dead in what was likely to be the worst U.S. aviation disaster in almost a quarter century, officials said Thursday.
At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the midair collision Wednesday night, when the helicopter apparently flew in the path of the jet as it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near D.C., officials said.
Rescuers were still searching for any sign of the 60 passengers and four crew members, but they did not believe there were any survivors, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years.
“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital. “We don’t believe there are any survivors.”
The body of the plane was found upside-down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found. Donnelly said first responders on Thursday were searching an area of the Potomac River as far south as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, roughly 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the airport.
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