Reagan National Airport has a long history of problems, challenges

The airspace around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has long been problematic because of heavy military and commercial flight activity in the nation’s capital, industry insiders say.

In an interview with The Washington Times, a commercial pilot with 36 years of experience flying out of Reagan for a major airline compared the constant interplay of aircraft along the Potomac River to “trying to stuff 20 pounds of crap into a 1-pound bag.”

He cited Reagan’s short runways, its proximity to downtown Washington, unpredictable military maneuvers and “last-minute gyrations landing from the south to avoid flying over the White House” as factors that worried pilots for years before Wednesday night’s crash that left 67 people presumed dead.

“We all knew it was a matter of time,” said the pilot, who asked to remain anonymous. “The [Federal Aviation Administration] knows it, everybody knows it, and they were willing to accept the risk. Now that it’s making news, they’ll change the procedures and move on, whether it solves the problem or not.”

He said he had a near collision with a military helicopter at the airport “seven or eight years ago” and had “the sense that it happens all the time.”

Sen. Mark R. Warner, Virginia Democrat, told radio station WTOP early Thursday that his state’s entire congressional delegation for years has “raised the fact that we’ve got some of the most crowded airspace in the country.”

Congress last year approved five more daily round-trip flights to Reagan despite the objections of Virginia and Maryland senators, including Mr. Warner. The four senators said the increase in flights would stress the already congested main runway and raise the chance of a serious crash.

The collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines Flight 5342 from Kansas was the first major crash at the airport since January 1982, over decades of near misses.

In 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 stalled, hit the 14th Street Bridge and crashed into the Potomac shortly after takeoff because of pilot error in icy conditions, killing 78 and leaving nine survivors. Airport officials responded by changing deicing fluids, lengthening holdover times and restricting how long planes could fly in inclement weather.

Federal authorities briefly shuttered the airport after terrorists slammed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, killing 64 people. Airport procedures soon changed to clarify precision paths along the Potomac, keeping airlines away from restricted air zones.

Industry insiders said none of those fixes could have prevented Wednesday’s crash.

Some suspected that Army pilots wearing night-vision goggles were flying higher than permitted and mistakenly thought they knew where the jet was as they drifted into its airspace.

“I would say, ‘Don’t run nighttime missions with night training goggles in airspace where it conflicts with arriving traffic,’” said Robert W. Mann, a former American Airlines executive. “It’s that simple. There’s no reason to do that.”

Mr. Mann, an independent airline analyst and consultant in Port Washington, New York, called Reagan National a “complex airspace” with two towers operating two runways separately.

“That automatically creates the potential for a communications issue and is a complication that doesn’t exist in many other spaces,” he said.

Reagan is one of 37 Class B high-density airports nationwide with added safety regulations to reduce in-flight collisions. Others include Tampa International, Chicago O’Hare International and Los Angeles International.

“Every couple minutes, you have a landing and a takeoff,” an Army Black Hawk helicopter pilot in Tampa, Florida, who asked to remain anonymous told The Times. “Not everybody can do it.”

He cited FAA requirements that Army pilots have clearance to fly near Reagan, GPS equipment and a transponder. He said they must be experienced and knowledgeable of correct procedures and radio calls.

“It’s probably not the easiest airport because of all the restrictions and congestion,” the helicopter pilot said. “But if you compare the number of flights and disasters in over 40 years of flying since 1982, it’s not very dangerous.”

The Times reached out to the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates aviation accidents.

Airlines for America, a trade group representing major U.S. air carriers, declined to comment on Reagan’s safety issues.

“Our deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of the passengers, flight crew and U.S. service members,” Airlines for America said in an email. “We stand ready to assist everyone involved during this difficult time and will await more details from the NTSB.”

Steve Polzin, an Arizona State University professor researching mass transportation, emphasized that air crashes remain rarer than highway fatalities but said worried travelers might avoid crowded airports such as Reagan and peak travel periods.

“When there are safety issues, I am sure there will be an army of lawyers more than happy to help aggrieved passengers,” Mr. Polzin said.