Just over three months ago, we saw a tragic accident at Washington National Airport (DCA), where a Black Hawk helicopter crashed into an American Eagle CRJ-700, claiming 67 lives.
Continue reading: Absurd: Black Hawk Helicopter Goes Off Course, Causes DCA Go Arounds
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
“It’s a bad airport…a very bad airport. It can’t even land huge planes….so tiny. So we are going to shut it down…close the airport…make the planes go back to where they came from.”
Let the wild comments and speculation begin…got my popcorn. Honestly, I used to come here for travel news…lately I think I come here for the comments.
Sickening and disturbing. Military helicopter activity has gotten out of control.
@Charles S. Great comment. However, shutting down DCA is probably the the one thing that might stir the compliant in Congress to rise up. The main reason DCA continues and expands in the number and range of its flights is that the members of Congress prefer it to the hour's shlep to IAD. Laziness? You decide.
The military pilots know they can't be publicly named and shamed. We can only hope that internal accountability exists, is proportionate, and is actually applied in this case. Can't make the disciplinary process for these helicopter macho men public because "National Security". Which of us feels more "secure" about DCA (or anywhere else the armed forces operate) in these circumstances?
A simple fix would be for NTSB to have the same authority over near misses like this, including public access to all aspects of the investigation. If the public exposure compromises the careers of a couple cowboys there's a positive tradeoff: the chilling effect for other cowboys.
IAD does have a direct metro connection to downtown now, so it isn't too inconvenient anymore and the airport itself has plenty of growing room. DCA on the other hand is overly congested and has no space to grow. I'm honestly surprised it was allowed to get bigger and didn't slowly get phased out in favor of IAD and BWI following 9/11 just out of security and safety reasons. It's a lot like Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong, an airport built during the infancy of the city it's in when air travel was far younger and had far less demand. But today demand, the aircraft themselves, and the cities around the airports have all grown to the point that the airport can no longer efficiently or safely operate.
What a silly request.
You think Israel would release names and give public access to investigations?
We don't expect terrorists to do the same. But do you thing the 'good guys' would do it?
You can get a medal for shooting down an civilian airliner. Go figure.
And build a wall around it?
And every plane currently using will get huge tariffs to prevent passengers from trafficking drugs because they are all gang members?
All of this while allowing and not even Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments to short DCA and buy IAD call options?
Sounds about right.
For those of us who live in DC, IAD is darn inconvenient. It is 1:15hrs on the train to get to IAD compared to 20mins to get to DCA.
It is at most $45 by Uber during surge pricing to get to DCA from my home compared to $100+ to travel to IAD.
DCA must remain a viable option. Shutting it down is not the answer for those of us who live in DC.
For those of us who live in DC, IAD is darn inconvenient. It is 1:15hrs on the train to get to IAD compared to 20mins to get to DCA.
It is at most $45 by Uber during surge pricing to get to DCA from my home compared to $100+ to travel to IAD.
DCA must remain a viable option. Shutting it down is not the answer for those of us who live in DC.
I wonder if Sean Duffy can get good ol' Pete Hegseth to stop drinking and sober up long enough - and stop worrying about servicemembers' genitals - to actually do something. Probably not, but I applaud Sean's words on social media. Despite the total lack of actual action. It's more than I expected.
Why must DCA remain open? To keep from inconveniencing you? You're saying your time is more important than the lives lost in the January collision and the safety of future passengers if DCA stays open? Don't make me laugh. Plenty of other people in major cities survive hour plus trips to their airport, you will too.
Who was the 'big shot' that wanted to 'look around' on that helicopter. They should be fired.
And should they close your airport of choice? Should they have closed CDG when Concorde crashed on take off? Imagine if people like you had called for the closing of Pittsburgh airport when USAir crashed in 1994.
Why is it a melodramatic binary choice? Steps can be put in place to make operations safe. Most have the intelligence to do so.
IAD and DCA are both "owned" by MWAA - Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
@justin dev
Live closer to IAD and stop with the entitlement hypocrisy.
People in Ashburn feels the same way with DCA. Should they demand to shut down DCA?
Shot down the Pentagon. No more Blackhawk flights. Save billions more than DOGE ever could. Job done.
@Justin dev
That's a whole load of apples and oranges that don't support your argument. Neither CDG nor PIT are anywhere near as close to the cities they serve as DCA: 14 and 12 miles respectively from the city centers, whereas the foot of DCA's runway 19 is in a nearly direct line 2.5 miles from the White House and the Pentagon under a mile from the foot of runway 15. Nor does CDG or PIT have to contend with the military and government helicopter traffic DCA has due to the proximity of the White House, Andrews AFB, Anacostia-Bolling, and the Pentagon. And lastly, neither crash you cite had airspace congestion as a cause or contributing factor.
At the end of the day, DCA is FAR closer to sensitive government and military installations. This both means much higher risk of those installations being hit if a plane goes down for any reason, and much higher risk (as we've seen) of collisions due to the low altitude congestion in that area. And no lmao, they wouldn't close ATL because ATL isn't in spitting distance of the US government and ATL's approaches don't conflict with craploads of helo traffic. It already takes me an hour to get there anyway. You'll survive. Remember how DCA was closed for nearly a month after 9/11, long after every other airport had resumed operation? And the FAA has already implemented rules that DCA traffic must halt whenever POTUS is coming or going on Marine One, so enjoy your random delays.
I live in California and don't have a dog in this fight, directly. But I'd much rather fly into DCA than IAD. When I go to Washington DC, either on business or pleasure, I want to go to DC, not Virginia. In that regard, it's no different than EWR -- to paraphrase Mayor LaGuardia, it's not New York. Have I flown in and out of IAD? Yes. Do I like flying in and out of IAD? No, not if Washington is my final destination, but it's fine if I'm connecting (e.g.) SFO-IAD-CDG.
Crowded air space does not, by definition, mean dangerous air space. It means it's crowded. Pilots need to focus ALL of the time -- even when on autopilot -- but they need heightened flying in and out of places like DCA, SAN, etc., etc. Unless we are going to move EVERY airport out to the middle of a cornfield...
No. Preliminary reports point to a military helicopter on a training flight not following the rules and flightpaths laid down by FAA. The pilot being trained as well as the senior pilot both need to be reprimanded, letters in their personnel files, and sent down for further ground school instruction on who controls the airspace in peace time.
DCA is in Virginia, though? I mean you still need to take Metro into the District or drive over the bridge.
@ justin dev
Kai Tak, Tempelhof, Tegel, Istanbul, Le Bourget, and many of those listed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_international_airports
All were more convenient for getting to from the city-centre than the airports which replaced them.
But urban growth, and airport growth means that the new airports further out make more sense, including for safety.
If they would just name the vip then we won't have this problem for at least a few years. People don't stop doing things anymore because it's the right thing to do. They stop when they are publicly shamed. It's the only effective solution for our current generation of vain self important population
One simply loves reading the comments placed after one of Ben’s articles …. few who post herein actually drill down to the core issues, most just ‘rabbit on’ about insignificant topics for the sake of it.
What I am experiencing is undoubtedly a true cross section of the current U.S. mindset.
What I conclude is that there is much work to be done by those who wish to make America great again.
Can’t you read the pilot was given conflicting orders by two different controllers.
Yeah, DCA is technically in VA, though to be fair, I get what you’re saying; it’s practically DC. 8 min Lyft ride from my house in DC this morning…I’m sitting there right now actually with an AA MX delay. LOL
@ted poco
We know that now, but that wasn't in the initial article.
Many of the comments further up make no sense given the additional information.
The incompetence of the American military is astounding. Aren't they the originators of the concept of "friendly fire"? Each time I see a "home of the free because of the brave" I cringe and want to throw up a bit.
No, it was a low paid pilot. Military and commuter airline pilots are poor and less qualified.
DCA should be a one runway airport, which it sort of is. Then decrease the number of flights, moving most to dulles.
Blame the Republicans for this because there was less trouble before the Reagan name, when it was called national
When the ATC ask the black hawk pilot “ landing assured”? I assume that is making sure that a space is available at the Pentagon helipad? The pilot I don’t think answered in the affirmative the first time asked and then did the second time after they landed. Not good
No one is shutting down DCA. The argument is silly and a non-starter to address this issue.
DCA needs to be shut down or these helicopter "training" flights need to stop! This is insane!
If they had started phasing it out post-9/11 you wouldn't be complaining and everyone would have adjusted to the "new normal" by now. As stated by @Albert, plenty of airports far more convenient to the cities they serve have been shut down due to lack of space to grow, limiting their capacity as the city continues to grow. DCA has both that AND sensitive national government buildings to contend with. It's well past time it was put to pasture.