By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday it may slow flight arrivals at Reagan Washington National Airport after a January 29 collision between a helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet killed 67 people.
The FAA also said it is increasing operational supervisor staffing from six to eight and was reviewing air traffic control staffing figures at Reagan amid growing concerns about safety and stress at the airport just outside Washington.
The FAA said it is reviewing the airport’s “arrival rate of aircraft per hour, which is disproportionately concentrated within the last 30 minutes of each hour.”
The FAA now allows 30 arrivals per hour at Reagan after reducing that to 26 after the crash, when two smaller runways were closed.
Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said last week the agency could eventually return to 32 arrivals per hour. “But right now, we’re at 30, and we plan to maintain that until such time as we assess the safety and being able to go to a higher rate,” he told Congress.
Last month, the FAA imposed permanent restrictions on helicopter traffic around the airport that has the single busiest runway in the United States. The FAA has mandated a halt to air traffic when essential helicopters are operating near Reagan.
Those restrictions have often led to significant delays at the airport.
On Friday, a near miss between a departing Delta Air Lines A319 and a group of Air Force jets approaching Arlington National Cemetery that triggered a cockpit collision warning for the Delta plane, prompted renewed safety concerns.
“The air traffic center that controls airspace around DC notified (Reagan) about the flyover. That should have led to halted traffic,” Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz said on Wednesday.
“This serious communication breakdown is just the latest in a string of missteps that signal the air traffic organization is under extreme stress,” The Texas Republican added.
Also last month, more than a dozen airplanes on approach to Reagan received faulty cockpit alerts that a senator said were due to government testing. At least six planes had to abort landing as a result.
An FAA Critical Incident Stress Management team will visit the airport offering confidential support for staff.
Last week, a fight occurred in the Reagan air traffic control tower and an employee was arrested and placed on leave, the FAA said.
(Reporting by David Shepardson;Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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