Air traffic controllers will use radar, not just visual checks, to ensure that helicopters maintain a safe distance from arriving and departing airplanes in the wake oflast year's fatal midair collisionnear Washington, D.C., federal officials announced Wednesday.
Aviation Safety
The Federal Aviation Administration said recent near-misses show that previous guidelines for pilots to maintain visual separation between helicopters and airplanes have failed to provide adequate protection around busy airports.
Under the new guidelines, air traffic controllers must use radar to keep helicopters and airplanes apart by specific lateral or vertical distances. The new requirement applies to more than 150 of the nation's busiest airports, extending a restriction already put in place atRonald Reagan Washington National Airport.
"Today, we are proactively mitigating risks before they affect the traveling public," FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in a news release. "Following the mid-air collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), we looked at similar operations across the national airspace. We identified an overreliance on pilot 'see and avoid' operations that contribute to safety events involving helicopters and airplanes."
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Officials also specifically mentioned a Feb. 27 near-miss in which a police helicopter had to turn to avoid an American Airlines flight that was landing at San Antonio International Airport in Texas. A similar close call happened on March 2, when a helicopter had to turn away from a small aircraft that had been cleared to arrive at California's Hollywood Burbank Airport, officials said.
The January 2025 collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter killed 67 people, making it thedeadliest plane crash on U.S. soilsince 2001. Among otherfactors contributing to the crash, investigators said controllers in the Reagan tower overly relied on asking pilots to spot aircraft and maintain visual separation.
The night of the crash, the controller approved the Black Hawk's request to do that twice. However, investigators say the helicopter pilots likely never spotted the American Airlines plane as the jet circled to land on the little-used secondary runway.
Many of the people who died wereyoung figure skatersand their parents and coaches who had just attended a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held there.