Prime officers on the Federal Aviation Administration, together with then-Administrator Michael Whitaker, pushed final summer time to shut one in every of three runways at Washington’s Reagan National Airport following two shut calls between airliners nonetheless on the bottom, a number of sources instructed CBS News.
Whitaker, who resigned as FAA administrator forward of the transition to the Trump administration, and others on the FAA needed to shut Runway 4 to visitors following an incident in April and one other about six weeks later in late Might.
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 instructed to cross Runway 4 similtaneously the JetBlue Embraer 190 was cleared to take off from the identical runway. Air visitors controllers ordered each planes to cease, however they got here inside roughly 300 ft of colliding.
On Might 29, there was another concerning incident on the airport. American Airways Flight 2134, an Airbus A319 cleared to take off for Boston, was pressured to hit the brakes as a result of a non-public King Air plane was cleared to land on an intersecting runway.
Air visitors controllers caught the difficulty, telling the American flight to cease its takeoff roll — the aircraft was going about 92 mph at this level — and ordering the King Air to go round, but it surely had already landed. The American flight had 128 passengers and 5 crew members on board.
The transfer to shut the runway acquired notable pushback and included an argument that closing it might trigger further burdens on Runway 33 — the runway American Flight 5342 was speculated to land on final Wednesday, when it and an Military Black Hawk helicopter collided in midair, killing 67 people.
In keeping with an impression assertion reviewed by CBS News, “Runway 04 has the additional advantage of not needing to cross any runways to succeed in. If Runway 04 is eliminated, Runway 33 utilization will enhance. With a view to get to Runway 33, Floor should cross each Runway 01 and Runway 04 whereas visitors is holding in place ready to depart and visitors is approaching a 2 mile last to Runway 01.”
The FAA instructed CBS News in an announcement: “Following the Might 29, 2024, shut name incident at Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport (DCA), the FAA took motion on Might 31, 2024, by briefly pausing flights on runway 4 at DCA, which is a limited-use runway utilized by small regional carriers, whereas we examined the complexity of a number of intersecting runways.”
Reagan Nationwide has three runways presently in use, in keeping with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates the airport. Runway 1/19, the first runway, is 7,169 ft lengthy. Runway 15/33 is 5,204 ft lengthy whereas Runway 4/22 is 5,000 ft lengthy.
Due to its quick size, Runway 4 is used sometimes and requires further coordination with air visitors management. It’s restricted to smaller plane landings — primarily regional jets just like the Bombardier CRJ700 and CRJ900 and the Embraer 170 or E-190 airliners. Solely about one-fifth of the airport’s 407 every day departures are estimated to be eligible to make use of Runway 4. As a substitute, it is extra generally used as a taxiway to get across the congested airfield.
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The concentrate on congestion at Reagan Nationwide has been ongoing in latest months after the airport authority and a number of other space lawmakers, together with Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, got here out in opposition to an effort so as to add further flights to the capacity-restricted airport final 12 months. The FAA pushed back in opposition to a report calling for added flights to be added at Reagan citing present airport congestion points.
Finally Congress opted to maneuver forward with including 5 further lengthy distance flights.
“The slabs are federally managed, federally mandated, and now we have to comply with federal laws,” Terry Liercke, a vp for the airport authority and airport supervisor for Reagan Nationwide, instructed reporters Friday.
Officers with the airport authority declined to straight tackle congestion issues following final week’s collision.
“The USA airspace is the most secure on this planet. Security is our, one in every of our prime priorities, and we proceed to make sure that the airport is protected for operations,” Liercke stated in response to a reporter’s questions Friday. “… We work with the FAA. We’re regulated by the FAA. We adjust to all FAA security laws.”
Reagan is one in every of three capacity-controlled airports in the US. It is generally known as slot-controlled, the place every slot is a takeoff or a touchdown. A brand new route sometimes requires a slot pair. Since 2000, Congress has added 64 such slot pairs at Reagan, which might help a further 32 flight routes on daily basis.