A flight takes off or lands at Reagan National Airport’s main runway every 60 seconds. Despite the taxing schedule and warnings about the airport’s dangers, Congress added five flight slots at DCA in 2025, an extra five take-offs and five landings per day.
Were concerns brought up in the past?
At the time, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., brought up concerns. He told his colleagues the extra flights were overwhelming the airport.
“You’re going to do it to convenience a few dozen members … at the expense of everybody who lives around this airport who would potentially be victimized if there was some kind of a collision,” Kaine said in May 2024.
Point phone camera here
That’s exactly what happened the night of Wednesday, Jan. 29, when an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair. There were 64 people on board the plane and three on the helicopter. No one survived.
U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C. These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National…
— U.S. Figure Skating (@USFigureSkating) January 30, 2025
The American Airlines flight involved in the crash was using one of the newly created slots.
Officials built DCA to fly 15 million passengers a year, in and out, on three runways. The airport currently accommodates 25 million passengers on a single runway.
What’s the reaction to the crash?
Some are now asking lawmakers if they made a mistake adding flights to an airport they knew was already beyond its capacity. Right now, lawmakers say it’s too soon to know.
“We’ll get the answers, and then, you know, my colleagues and I will figure out what steps need to be taken,” Kaine said Thursday, Jan. 30.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said he too has had concerns about the airport. He admitted it’s challenging to land there.
“We’ve all experienced multiple times, the weaving to get a perfect landing direction, how quickly the brakes have to go on, how steep the ascent and descent is at Reagan. It’s complicated,” Cramer said. “Only the most experienced, best pilots can do it.”
Can the airport’s issues be fixed?
The problem is Reagan can’t expand. It has the Potomac River to the east and south and a fully developed Crystal City, Virginia, to the West. So as planes get bigger, the airport’s 7,169-foot runway stays the same.
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“Whenever I’m at Reagan and I see new gates being built, the terminal getting larger, realizing that there’ll never be another inch of runway and that the skies are pretty congested,” Cramer said. “I often think there’s, there’s too much activity for this small plot of land and I’m sure there’ll be a reevaluation of all of that.”
The NTSB, FAA and Army are investigating.
Tags: Airport, Crash, FAA, FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, helicopter crash, National Transportation Safety Board, plane crash, Ronald Reagan, U.S. Army, U.S. Congress, Washington DC
A flight takes off or lands at Reagan National Airport’s main runway every sixty seconds. Despite the taxing schedule and warnings about the airport’s dangers, Congress added five flight slots at DCA last year, an extra five take offs and five landings per day.
At the time, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia sounded the alarm. He told his colleagues the airport was overburdened.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va: “You’re going to do it to convenience a few dozen members…at the expense of everybody who lives around this airport who would potentially be victimized if there was some kind of a collision.”
That’s exactly what happened Wednesday night when an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair. There were 64 souls on board the plan and three on the helicopter. No one survived.
The American Airlines flight involved in the crash was using one of the newly created slots.
DCA was built for 15 million passengers a year in and out on three runways. It’s currently at 25 million on one runway.
Members are being asked if they made a mistake adding flights to an airport they knew was already beyond its intended capacity. Right now, they say it’s too soon to know.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.: “We’ll get the answers, and then, you know, my colleagues and I will figure out what steps need to be taken.”
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R- N.D., said he too has had concerns about the airport and admitted it’s challenging to land there.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND: “We’ve all experienced multiple times, the weaving to get a perfect landing direction, how quickly the brakes have to go on, how steep the ascent and descent is at Reagan. It’s complicated. Only the only the most experienced, best pilots can do it.”
The problem is Reagan can’t expand. It has the Potomac River to the east and south and a fully developed Crystal City, Virginia to the West. So as planes get bigger, its 7,169 foot runway stays the same.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND: “Whenever I’m at Reagan and I see new gates being built, the terminal getting larger, realizing that there’ll never be another inch of runway, and that the skies are pretty congested. I often think there’s, there’s too much activity for this small plot of land and, and I’m sure there’ll be a reevaluation of all of that.”
The NTSB, FAA and Army are investigating.
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