Following the collision of the tragic field on the Botomac River in Washington, DC in January, the authorities are working hard to carry out operations at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration has announced new changes regarding employees in the airport air traffic control tower, including aircraft access rates.
Steps towards safety
the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) announced several measures to improve safety around it Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
(DCA). These follow NTSB recommendations last month. FAA released the following statement:
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) increases support and supervision of the air traffic controller at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). FAA also evaluates the current access rates to DCA.
“To support the luxury of control units, the CISM management team will visit DCA in early April, providing secret support to employees after stressful events. FAA will also conduct regular net checks in the facility.”
Photo: Raksybh | Shutterstock
In fact, one of the concerns that appeared after the accident in January was the mental well -being of ATC control units at Reagan National Airport. A few days ago, it was reported
In the control tower.
FAA will increase the employees of the operating supervisor from six to eight, in addition to reviewing the professional employment numbers approved in DCA.
The aircraft rate at the airport per hour is also subject to scrutiny. According to FAA, the rate of arrival of Reagan National Airport is concentrated inappropriately during the last 30 minutes of each hour.
NTSB recommendations
Last month, FAA also announced the steps taken after NTSB recommendations. To quote from the agency website, these steps include:
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Permanently restricting unnecessary helicopters around DCA and eliminating the helicopter and mixed mixed -wing traffic.
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Close 4 Permanent Road between Hains Point and Wilson Bridge and evaluate alternative helicopters as recommended by NTSB.
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If a aircraft helicopter across the airspace should be on an urgent mission, such as saving medical life, prioritizing the law, or presidential transport, then FAA will keep them specific distances away from aircraft.
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Prohibition of simultaneous use of corridors 15/33 and 4/22 when helicopters that run urgent tasks near DCA work.
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Reducing the use of the visual separation of some of the coast and marine guard operations and Park Police Helicopter outside the restricted airspace.
Photo: Douglas Lesflade Shutterstock
FAA also focuses on other airports that receive large amounts of mixed traffic. Eight cities were listed in the brief list of evaluation-which includes Boston, New York and the Baltimore Washington, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles.
In addition, FAA also evaluates the US Gulf Coast, including marine helicopters, to see if any corrective measures should be taken. Among the ways that FAA analyzes risks using machine learning and language modeling to scan accident reports.
“Something has been missed”
While the authorities are trying to analyze the error that occurred at the National Reagan National Airport in the fateful evening, the previous records of the airport were examined.
In a rear session in the Senate, the Chairman of the Sub -Aviation Committee, Jerry Moran, expressed his concerns about the fact that in the 13 -year period, “No one month has passed without at least one call between a helicopter and a DCA commercial plane.”
Photo: Cat Lyong Shutterstock
Among those who were interrogated in the hearing session was the official FAA official, Chris Roshilo. He confessed to the gaps that led to the collision of the air at Reagan National Airport in January and said,
“Something was missed in the DCA accident. I take it seriously. I took it on myself. I returned to FAA just two months ago and I care about the national airspace system for safety and working power. I am devoted to continuing this work, and I will continue to review what I mentioned before regarding hot spots, and I work closely with NTSB to find out what happened here and never happened.”
