4 months ago
10
(NewsNation) — Congress added much regular flights to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport's docket past twelvemonth — and aggregate different times implicit the past 4th period — contempt warnings from the airdrome wherever 67 radical died successful a level clang Wednesday night.
The collision betwixt an American Airlines commercialized rider pitchy and an Army Black Hawk chopper implicit the Potomac River is the worst aerial crash successful the U.S. since 9/11.
The clang was reminiscent of different connected Jan. 13, 1982, erstwhile an Air Florida formation plowed into the Potomac owed to atrocious weather, leaving 78 dead.
Wednesday's clang has resurfaced interest astir the airport's proximity to the river, constrictive landing abstraction and overcrowdedness. Despite the geographic and logistical challenges, Congress authorized 10 further "slots," oregon flights, to DCA's regular formation schedule.
DCA (the airport's three-letter code) operates connected a "slot rule," meaning the fig of regular arrivals and departures is limited. Only 4 different high-density airports negociate congestion this way: JFK and LaGuardia successful New York, Newark successful New Jersey and O'Hare successful Chicago.
Reagan National serves arsenic the area's "short-haul" airport, according to its website, arsenic non-stop work is constricted to a perimeter of 1,250 miles. However, non-stop work is offered beyond that bounds to West Coast cities similar Los Angeles and Seattle arsenic a effect of caller national exemptions.
Through authorities passed by Congress, the U.S. Department of Transportation tin contented "beyond-perimeter" exemptions, allowing non-stop work to cities extracurricular of the 1,250-mile perimeter
Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act authorized 10 further regular flights to DCA's schedule, each of which are extracurricular the perimeter. This determination was made "over the beardown absorption of the Airports Authority," DCA's website says. Congress besides added 54 full slots dispersed crossed 2012, 2003 and 2000.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., opposed the increase.
"With this profoundly reckless decision, the (Commerce, Science and Transportation) Committee is gambling with the information of everyone who uses this airport," Kaine said successful a statement past February. "As we person said countless times before, DCA’s runway is already the busiest successful the country."
Members of Congress question frequently, utilizing the 2 D.C. country airports, Reagan National and Washington Dulles International Airport.
"Forcing the airdrome to cram further flights successful its already crowded docket volition further strain its resources astatine a clip erstwhile aerial postulation controllers are overburdened and exhausted, moving 10-hour days, six days a week," Kaine said earlier a last measure was written past year.
An FAA report obtained by the Associated Press said 1 aerial postulation controller was moving 2 positions astatine the clip of the crash, which was “not mean for the clip of time and measurement of traffic.”
On May 25, 2023, 9 days aft the reauthorization enactment was signed into law, the FAA sent a memo to the Office of Government and Industry Affairs to supply an investigation of however the further slots would interaction delays and airdrome operations.
"Additional flights astatine DCA would apt person a antagonistic interaction connected operational show and rider experience," the memo said.
About 20% of departures and 22% of arrivals astatine DCA experienced mean delays of a small much than an hr from January 2022 done May 2023.
The memo clarified that slot limits are based connected airdrome capacity, not demand. Whereas Congress successfully sought to summation the fig of slots, the FAA "imposes slot limits erstwhile request exceeds capacity," the memo said.
“I was truthful distraught erstwhile I heard this quality past night,” Kaine told the New York Times Thursday. “I volition not beryllium capable to rewatch the code I gave connected the Senate level astir it due to the fact that it would marque maine excessively upset."
