Pilots warned of safety concerns at Reagan National Airport for decades

Pilots and air traffic controllers notified authorities about airplanes and helicopters flying alarmingly close at Reagan National Airport (DCA) in at least 15 incident reports dating back to 1991, according to an ABC News review of the reports. Some of the reports warned that the flight space was "an accident waiting to happen" with others describing scenarios eerily close to what occurred when a military Black Hawk helicopter collided with American Airlines Flight 5342 last week as the passenger jet approached the airport. "One of these incidents would have been too many," said former Air Force pilot and ABC News aviation consultant John Nance. "This barometer is in the red. It's telling us there is a real problem here. There is a very, very clear track record of something that needs to be fixed." There are at least four reports of safety incidents associated with runway 33, the same runway that AA 5342 was approaching when the collision that took 67 lives occurred. "This has been happening too many times over the years, and it’s now led to a tragedy that could have been prevented," said Steve Ganyard, a former Marine Corps fighter pilot and ABC News contributor. The safety reports were filed with the Aviation Safety Reporting System, a program established by the FAA and managed by NASA that enables professionals within the aviation community to voluntarily and confidentially report safety concerns and incidents in a non-punitive manner.<br/>