The January 29 midair collision near Reagan Washington National Airport highlighted significant hazards stemming from the interaction between helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft in the area. Promptly addressing these issues, authorities have permanently restricted non-essential helicopter operations and removed mixed helicopter and fixed-wing traffic around the airport.
Efforts have been expanded to examine other "hotspot" airports with organized helicopter routes near airplane traffic, including offshore operations in the Gulf of America. These investigations utilize machine learning and language modeling to analyze incident reports and data sources to uncover areas of risk.
Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas has become a primary focus due to identified issues. Agreements with local helicopter operators currently lack defined vertical or lateral boundaries, and tower controllers fail to issue traffic advisories between helicopters and airplanes, leading to routine breaches of Class B separation rules. Swift actions have been taken to impose greater control and increase traffic advisories, reducing collision avoidance reports by 30% in three weeks.
Additionally, safety reviews are being conducted around Hollywood Burbank Airport and Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, due to their proximity and high density of diverse aircraft operations. The discussions on these issues took place during a rotorcraft safety roundtable with FAA experts and rotorcraft industry representatives.
The dialogue also addressed core safety issues like loss of control and unintentional flights into adverse weather, encouraging suggestions for safety improvements, such as more FAA involvement in peer programs, consistent inspector training, partnerships for Safety Management Systems (SMS), increased technology use, expanded weather cameras, and IFR routes.
Recognizing that aviation safety is a shared responsibility, the FAA has formed an Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to enhance commercial air tour safety, fulfilling a requirement from the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act. This initiative, announced prior to an air tour helicopter crash in the Hudson River, further emphasizes the need for continuous improvement in aviation safety.
The first ARC meeting is scheduled for May 20, with recommendations expected by September 2025. Authorities, including Transportation Secretary Duffy, remain committed to using data-driven insights to identify trends and implement effective safety measures, affirming that flying remains a remarkably safe mode of transport.
