The Federal Aviation Administration will shutter the Route 4 helicopter corridor near Ronald Reagan Washington National airport in response to the deadly 29 January mid-air collision involving a passenger jet.
The agency is “permanently closing Route 4 between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge, and evaluating alternative helicopter routes as recommended by the NTSB”, the agency said on 14 March.
The move comes several days after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended that the FAA make that stretch of Route 4 off limits to helicopter traffic when commercial aircraft are operating from runway 15/33 at nearby National airport.
Route 4 runs parallel to and on the east side of the Potomac River. National airport is on the river’s west bank. Hains Point is about 0.7 miles (1.1km) southwest of the threshold of runway 33, and the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge is about 3.9 miles south.
Additionally, the FAA says it is “permanently restricting non-essential helicopter operations around DCA and eliminating helicopter and fixed-wing mixed traffic”.
The FAA says it will allow some limited helicopter traffic in the airspace called Route 4, but only in cases involving an “urgent mission, such as lifesaving medical, priority law enforcement or presidential transport”. In such instances, air traffic controllers will prohibit fixed-wing aircraft from simultaneously using National airport’s secondary runways – 15/33 and 4/22. Runway 1/19 is the airport’s main strip.
As part of its review, the FAA is also analysing other airports with “high volumes” of mixed helicopter and fixed-wing traffic. Airports under the review include others in the Baltimore-Washington region and those serving Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles and New York.
Additionally, the agency is “assessing the US Gulf Coast, including offshore helicopter operations”.
The NTSB’s recommendations came as part of its 11 March preliminary report into the 29 January crash.
That report says investigators found 85 instances between October 2021 and December 2024 of helicopters coming within 1nm (1.9km) laterally and 122m (400ft) vertically of commercial jets near National airport.
Helicopters are prohibited from exceeding 200ft altitude while in Route 4. But at 200ft, helicopters can still come within 75ft vertically of jets landing on Runway 33 – way too close, the NTSB says.
The 31 January incident involved a US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk flying at 300ft in Route 4. Investigators have not yet said why the helicopter’s pilots were exceeding the altitude cap.
The Black Hawk collided with a PSA Airlines MHIRJ CRJ700 on approach to runway 33, killing all 64 people on the CRJ and all three on the Black Hawk.
