The tragic plane crash between a military helicopter and a commercial plane has shown the risks that experts and authorities have been pointing out for years for the saturation of the airspace around the Reagan National Airport in Washington.
The accident, which has left 67 fatal victims, has occurred in one of the most complex and congested air corridors in the United States, where Traffic of military helicopters and commercial aircraft shares an extremely limited space on the Potomac River.
“It is a hive of activity,” describes Dennis Tajer, captain of American Airlines and spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association pilots. “It is an extremely compact space with a high volume of traffic. “
The situation has been aggravated because the airport, originally designed to handle 15 million passengers per year, currently manages 25 million, well above its planned capacity.
In addition, Washington’s airspace has restrictions due to its proximity to sensitive government facilities such as the White House, Capitol and Pentagon. The region houses three main airports, 11 regional airports and 55 helipuertos, not counting military facilities. According to a 2021 report to Congress, approximately 88,000 helicopter flights operated in the area between 2017 and 2019.
Security problems are not new. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has investigated at least three serious incidents at the Reagan National Airport in recent years. In 2024, there were two high -risk situations: a Southwest Airlines plane received instructions to cross a track while a Jetblue flight began its takeoff, and an American Airlines jet was close to colliding with a King Air aircraft during landing.
Despite the warnings, the Congress approved in 2023 the addition of five additional round trips, a decision that was criticized by the delegation of the Congress of the DC area, which has constantly argued that the airport is operating to the limit of its ability.
Michael McCormick, a professor at the Embry-Riddle University and Air Traffic Control Specialist, has indicated that the lack of concern for airport traffic patterns and the reduction of air control personnel during the night could have been key factors in The accident. “This is an avoidable and unfortunate tragedy,” he says.
