Ask lots of Congress’ frequent fliers, and so they’ll let you know Ronald Reagan Nationwide Airport has despatched up crimson flags for years.
“I’ve lengthy been very, very nervous about congestion at Reagan Nationwide,” stated Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
“The congestion of the airspace round Reagan and D.C. as a complete positively performed a component on this,” stated Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., a former firefighting pilot. “The sheer variety of plane within the air is as excessive because it’s ever been.”
“A whole lot of plane transit up and down the Potomac,” stated Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a former Navy fight pilot and astronaut. “Getting out and in of sure areas. The Pentagon. Different navy installations. Reagan proper there in that extremely trafficked space.”
“Every time I am at Reagan and I see new gates being constructed, the terminal getting bigger, I understand that there’ll by no means be one other inch of runway. The skies are fairly congested,” stated Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. “I typically suppose there’s an excessive amount of exercise for this small plot of land. And I am positive there will be a reevaluation of all of that.”
REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT CRASH: MILITARY BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER COLLIDES MIDAIR WITH AMERICAN AIRLINES JET
A JetBlue Airways Airbus A320 jet flies previous the U.S. Capitol dome because it is available in for a touchdown at Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport on Tuesday, Could 7, 2024. (Invoice Clark/CQ-Roll Name, Inc by way of Getty Photos)
The nation’s worst air catastrophe in practically a quarter-century spilled into the Potomac River simply in need of Washington’s Reagan Nationwide Airport on Wednesday evening. Sixty-seven individuals died after American Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kan., collided with an Military Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter ft from the runway.
Aviation consultants say flying out and in of Reagan Nationwide is without doubt one of the most complex airports within the nation. The method from each the north and south is over water. Pilots should navigate a slender hall above the river – however not fly over the close by Pentagon. That’s to say nothing of piercing Washington, D.C.’s super-protective airspace. The White Home and U.S. Capitol are clearly seen when planes take off to the north.
Furthermore, the airport is thought for notoriously quick runways. The runway on which the American Eagle flight tried to land stretches somewhat greater than 5,200 ft. Barely lower than a mile in size.
That’s not even the primary runway. Normal business runways common round 13,000 ft. The longest runway at Reagan Nationwide is about 7,000 ft. Plus, all three runways cross each other. Such a configuration is never seen at trendy airports.
DC PLANE CRASH: ATC STAFFING LEVELS UNDER SCRUTINY AS BARGES ARRIVE TO HELP SALVAGE OPS
The midair crash between an American Airways jet and Black Hawk navy helicopter close to Reagan Nationwide Airport close to Washington, D.C., was seen on dashcam video from Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling. (Storyful)
Final spring, there have been two incidents the place planes practically crashed into each other whereas crossing runways.
The runways are a number of the most overused in the complete American flight system. The airport was designed to deal with 14 million passengers yearly. However that quantity spiked to 25 million in 2023. The airport accommodates a staggering 800 takeoffs and landings every day.
There have been efforts to shut Reagan Nationwide when Dulles Worldwide Airport opened in 1962. Dulles is a monstrosity of a campus. Nonetheless, it resides practically 30 miles from Washington, D.C., correct. The nation’s movers and shakers by no means gravitated to Dulles when it was really easy to fly into Reagan Nationwide, deplane, catch a cab and arrive on the State Division for a gathering quarter-hour later.
Lawmakers, aviation, nationwide safety officers and the Secret Service performed severe conversations about completely closing the airport after 9/11. It was thought that air visitors out and in of Reagan Nationwide posed an excessive amount of of a danger to the seat of presidency. It wouldn’t take a lot for hijackers to commandeer an plane and reroute it to Capitol Hill.
In spite of everything, one aircraft crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. The fourth aircraft – which went down in a area close to Shanksville, Penn. – was finally sure for the Capitol.
DC PLANE CRASH: POTOMAC RIVER DIVERS’ SEARCH FOR BODIES COMPLICATED BY CONDITIONS OUT OF THEIR CONTROL
Emergency employees get well particles from the Potomac River within the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter, as seen from Virginia, Jan. 30, 2025. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
That stated, advocates for sustaining Reagan Nationwide argued it was practically unimaginable to hijack a aircraft taking off and instantly ship it barreling towards the Capitol. It takes some time to engineer a hijacking. There was merely not sufficient time to execute such a plan seconds after takeoff.
Nonetheless, authorities shuttered Reagan Nationwide for greater than three weeks following 9/11. New security guidelines had been in place as soon as the airport re-opened. Planes couldn’t have greater than 156 seats. All passengers had been required to be seated a half-hour earlier than touchdown. Air marshals patrolled most if not all flights out and in of the airport.
The feds loosened lots of these restrictions anyplace from a number of months to almost 4 years after 9/11. However that didn’t diminish questions concerning the security of this specific airport.
VICTIMS IDENTIFIED IN DC PLANE CRASH INVOLVING AMERICAN AIRLINES JET AND MILITARY HELICOPTER
Nonetheless, proponents of sustaining Reagan Nationwide had a number of the strongest allies within the nation: Members of Congress.
Lawmakers preserve insane schedules. In actual fact, the invention of the jet airplane contributed to such bedlam. Lawmakers are in excessive demand of their districts or states – and on Capitol Hill. That’s to say nothing of conferences in Aspen or Halifax – and glitzy fundraisers in New York or San Francisco. So air journey, coupled with entry to a close-by airport, is paramount within the trendy Congress.
The significance of aviation is even integrated into the Congressional vernacular.
Mondays or Tuesdays are sometimes deemed “fly-in” days. The Home and Senate don’t really get going till late within the day in the course of the first day of the week. Thus, votes on Monday won’t unfold till 5:30 pm et within the Senate and 6:30 within the Home. Relying on if the Home (and generally the Senate) convenes on a Monday or Tuesday, Thursdays and Friday are thought of “getaway” days. The Home would possibly lower city by late morning or midday on a getaway day. If the Senate doesn’t toil for 5 days (which has occurred rather a lot this yr, however not this week), the final vote typically hits round 2:15 or 2:30 pm. on a Thursday.
Thus, lawmakers have a vested curiosity in protecting Reagan Nationwide operational. Even after 9/11.
Congress reauthorized applications for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for 5 years in 2024. However probably the most contentious points within the invoice was whether or not Congress ought to authorize extra day by day “slots” for Reagan Nationwide. New, common flights begin in a number of weeks to Las Vegas, San Diego, Seattle, San Antonio and San Francisco. Lawmakers have blessed a rise of about 50 extra day by day “slots” at Reagan Nationwide for the reason that flip of the century.
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It’s telling that solely 4 senators opposed the FAA invoice final yr. All 4 had been the native Washington, D.C., space senators: former Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., – who simply retired – together with Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Mark Warner, D-Va., and Kaine.
The Senate confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on a bipartisan vote Tuesday. Duffy confronted a disaster by Wednesday evening. By Friday, the brand new secretary tightened up airspace round Reagan Nationwide for helicopters.
However like all the pieces in Washington, the important thing to Reagan Nationwide is all about entry. It’s laborious to search out any main airport on the planet situated so near the levers of energy.
And so long as the White Home, the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a myriad of federal companies and lobbying outlets exist in Washington, it’s uncertain that Reagan Nationwide goes anyplace.
Fox Information’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
