FAA ‘permanently’ closes helicopter route near National airport as part of broader response to collision

The Federal Aviation Administration will shutter the Route 4 helicopter corridor near Ronald Reagan Washington National airport in response to the deadly 29 January mid-air collision involving a passenger jet. The agency is “permanently closing Route 4 between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge, and evaluating alternative helicopter routes as recommended by the NTSB”, the agency said on 14 March. The move comes several days after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended that the FAA make that stretch of Route 4 off limits to helicopter traffic when commercial aircraft are operating from runway 15/33 at nearby National airport. Route 4 runs parallel to and on the east side of the Potomac River. National airport is on the river’s west bank. Hains Point is about 0.7 miles (1.1km) southwest of the threshold of runway 33, and the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge is about 3.9 miles south. Additionally, the FAA says it is “permanently restricting non-essential helicopter operations around DCA and eliminating helicopter and fixed-wing mixed traffic”. The FAA says it will allow some limited helicopter traffic in the airspace called Route 4, but only in cases involving an “urgent mission, such as lifesaving medical, priority law enforcement or presidential transport”. In such instances, air traffic controllers will prohibit fixed-wing aircraft from simultaneously using National airport’s secondary runways – 15/33 and 4/22. Runway 1/19 is the airport’s main strip.<br/>