Agency Also Releases Prelim Report On DCA Mid-Air Collision

The NTSB has released an urgent recommendation to the FAA that it permanently prohibit helicopter operations in the vicinity of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), whenever runways 15 and 3 are in use for arrivals and departures, calling it “an intolerable risk to aviation safety by increasing the chance of a midair collision.”

The NTSB recommended designating an alternative helicopter route(s) when those runways are in use.

The NTSB also released its Preliminary Report on the midair collision accident between a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and a PSA Airlines jet on final approach to runway 33 at DCA. The accident resulted in the deaths of 67 passengers and crew on both aircraft.

The 10-page urgent recommendation report described how helicopters transiting along the Route 4 corridor at the max authorized altitude of 200 feet could have as little as 75 feet of vertical separation from an aircraft on a landing approach to Runway 33.

The agency said such separation was insufficient and said it could potentially be even less depending on how far the helicopter was laterally from the Potomac River shoreline, or if an approaching aircraft was below its designated visual glidepath to Runway 33.

FMI:  www.ntsb.gov/