The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is implementing several measures to enhance safety at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
The latest announced measure center around increasing support and oversight for the air traffic controller team at DCA. The FAA is also evaluating current aircraft arrival rates at the busy Washington airport.
These steps align with recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The FAA aims to improve air traffic control and ensure safer operations around this busy airport.
To enhance oversight, the FAA is increasing support for air traffic controllers at DCA. This includes adding staff and reviewing the hourly arrival rate of planes. Right now, arrivals often cluster in the last 30 minutes of each hour, a pattern the FAA wants to fix.
The agency will also raise the number of Operational Supervisors from six to eight and assess whether the current count of Certified Professional Controllers is sufficient for DCA’s demands.
Recent Assault Incident at DCA Tower
Controller well-being is a key focus, especially after the most recent troubling incident in the control tower.
This week, one controller was charged with assault and battery following a confrontation, highlighting the stress these workers face.
To address this, a Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team will visit DCA in early April. The team will offer confidential support to staff coping with stressful events, like the recent altercation.
The FAA will also introduce regular wellness checks at the facility to help controllers manage their demanding roles.
Further Airspace Changes at DCA
The FAA has already made changes in recent weeks. Last month, it acted on NTSB advice by permanently limiting non-essential helicopter flights near DCA and ending mixed helicopter and fixed-wing traffic.
Route 4, a helicopter path from Hains Point to the Wilson Bridge, is now closed for good. The FAA is also exploring alternative helicopter routes as recommended by the NTSB.
For urgent missions—such as medical flights, law enforcement, or Presidential transport—helicopters can still enter the airspace. However, they’ll be kept at safe distances from fixed wing traffic.
When these critical helicopter operations occur, the FAA prohibits using Runways 15/33 and 4/22 at the same time.
Visual separation rules will only apply to certain Coast Guard, Marine, and Park Police helicopter flights outside restricted areas.
Conclusion
With a string of concerning airspace incidents and a fatal accident at Reagan National Airport, concerns of airspace congestion have been front and center.
The NTSB pointed to systemic procedural problems which appear to have been unaddressed in recent years. In conjunction, the clear strain on air traffic controllers is evident; notably culminating in the recent assault incident involving two controllers.
The recent rectification actions are arguably long overdue, and sadly have come at the cost of 67 lives.
Beyond DCA, the FAA is examining other high-traffic airports with mixed operations. This includes eight major cities: Boston, New York, Baltimore-Washington, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles.
Some of these regions have multiple airports, making the analysis vital. The FAA aims to improve safety nationwide by studying helicopter routes and traffic flows.
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The post FAA Sends Stress Management Team to Reagan National After Fatal Crash and Assault Incident appeared first on AviationSource News.