‘Too Many Planes In Close Airspace’: Washington’s Reagan National Airport Among World’s Most Complex

Last Updated:January 30, 2025, 19:19 IST

Reagan Airport is under scrutiny after a mid-air collision near Washington, DC. Over 60 people are feared dead, with 28 bodies recovered so far.

Emergency response units search the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan Airport in Arlington, Virginia. (IMAGE: AFP)

Reagan Airport is one of the busiest and most complex airports in the United States, making it one of the most challenging airports for approaching pilots, experts told broadcaster CNN.

The airport’s tight airspace is drawing renewed attention following the recent mid-air collision in Washington, DC.

More than 60 people were feared dead after an American Airlines regional passenger jet collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the frigid Potomac River near Reagan Washington Airport.

“At this point we do not believe there were any survivors," District of Columbia fire chief John Donnelly said at a Thursday press conference at the airport.

Donnelly said 28 bodies had been recovered from the river so far, in what was shaping up to be the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than a decade. “We will work to find all the bodies and reunite them with their loved ones," he said.

“Not only is it (one of) the busiest, it’s the most complex airport. “There’s military and commercial together. There’s flight restrictions on where you can fly, what kind of approaches you have to make, and there’s demands on how quickly those airplanes have to come in and out," David Soucie, a former FAA accident investigator, told the broadcaster.

The airport’s proximity to high-profile landmarks like the Pentagon and Washington, DC, has also made it a particularly challenging location for pilots.

“You can’t get into the DCA airspace unless you are totally under air traffic control," Mary Schiavo, the former inspector general of the US Transportation Department, told the broadcaster.

DCA is Washington Airport’s airport code.

Schiavo said that a lot of things can go wrong “in very close airspace".

“There are a lot of things that can go wrong when you have too many aircraft in very close airspace –– and that is DCA. It was supposed to close because it was too close to the city," she further added.

“Anybody operating in that had to coordinate with air traffic control. And we know that happened because air traffic control talked to the helicopter".

Audio from air traffic control moments before Wednesday’s collision reveals that the US Army Black Hawk was aware of a nearby aircraft, but what occurred afterward remains unclear.

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

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