DC Reagan National Airport – Difficult Conditions and Restricted Air Space Around Our Nation’s Capitol and Sensitive Sights

Last week’s crash into the Potomac River of  American Airlines Flight #5342 with 60 passengers and four crew dominated the news cycle and reminded the American Public that the proximity of our military to our civilian air space can sometimes result in tragedy. Indeed, Doug Landau has long suggested that Reagan National Airport should be located further away from the center of the Nation’s Capitol, in Maryland, where nearby Andrews Air Force Base is situated, and that the military should have their base close to the Capitol, White House, Pentagon & Langley (CIA HQ), so that military brass could land practically at the Pentagon and fighter jets could be scrambled immediately to protect our most sensitive sites. Plus, unlike Washington Dulles or Baltimore Washington International Airports, circling Reagan National is also complicated during inclement weather or backed up gates, since pilots cannot simply go around DC.

Doug Landau has long studied the operations at Ronald Reagan National Airport and has flown many times in and out of the Washington, D.C. airport. The injury team at ABRAMS LANDAU has helped many passengers, airline employees and airport workers.

This recent Washington D.C.s Reagan National crash last Wednesday night reminded Doug Landau of that fateful day when he was at the Pentagon when the Air Florida Jet went onto the Potomac after crashing into the 14th street bridge on January 13, 1982. Landau was working in Washington, DC at the time, and remembered the snow storm the day before. The National Traffic Safety Board (“NTSB“) determined that the cause of the crash was pilot error. Evidence tended to suggest that the pilots failed to switch on the engines’ internal ice protection technology, used reverse thrust in a snow storm prior to lift-off, and tried to use the jet exhaust of a jet aircraft in front of them to melt their ice, and failed to abandon the takeoff even after detecting a power problem while taxiing on the runway, and ice and snow buildup on the wings. The combination of these errors combined to cause the crash of the jet and the death of nearly all on board.

The air traffic controllers at DC’s Reagan National Airport have difficult jobs, given the cercuitous flight paths required, the short runways, the proximity to the Potomac River, the nearby military bases and the limited hours.

The recent crash of  American Airlines Flight 5342 was also one of the deadliest in DC’s crowded airspace, with DC Reagan National, Washington Dulles International and Baltimore Washington International Airports all competing for flying customers, airlines, routes and airspace. Located along the Potomac just southwest of Washington, Reagan National requires pilots to navigate hundreds of commercial planes, military aircraft, and restricted areas.

Federal authorities, aviation experts and cockpit crew members have understandable concerns about the increase in “close calls” and “near misses.” Lat May, an American Airlines plane canceled its takeoff from Reagan to avoid a plane that was landing on an intersecting runway. According to news reports, it was the second close call in 6 weeks! A little more than 24 hours before Wednesday’s Army helicopter and American Airlines crash, a different regional jet landing at Reagan had to execute an evasive maneuver because of a military helicopter in the same area. Flight tracking sites and air-traffic control logs show the regional Embraer E-175 was cleared to land. It was also advised about a military helicopter in its vicinity when its automated collision avoidance system pushed it out of proper alignment for landing. It safely landed minutes later.

 The challenging air space around our Nation’s Capitol requires absolute vigilance on the part of commercial pilots, private pilots, air traffic controllers and our military command.. Air injury lawyer Doug Landau has flown for decades in commercial and private aircraft in and around the DC area airports. In addition to DC Regan National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport and Baltimore Washington International Airport, Landau has flown privately from the Leesburg, Manassas, Gaithersburg, Charlottesville, Roanoke, Vinton-Salem, Grundy, White Sulphur Springs and other Mid-Atlantic area airstrips.

Lawyer Landau knows first-hand that you cannot fly over our government’s sensitive sites. These special places include: the Pentagon, CIA headquarters, the White House, FBI headquarters, the Capitol. Plus, National Airport is physically located in Virginia. It is subject to the noise ordinances of nearby Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia. This means that flights end at 10:00 PM and do not resume until 7:00 AM the next morning. Adding to the complexity of flying into the airport closest to “the Capitol of the free world” is the fact that National Airport has shorter runways than nearby Washington Dulles International Airport (“IAD). That is why the graceful supersonic jets (the Concord SST), the space shuttle, and other long-haul jumbo jets that go to Australia, China, Africa, and elsewhere, depart from Dulles, and not Reagan National.

These reports of “near misses,” “close calls,” and errors remind us that air travel can result in injury or death. If unsafe equipment, practices or decisions combine to cause harm, then seeking legal reimbursement for the losses is appropriate. If you, or someone you care about has been injured in an airline injury or airport event, and there are questions about what to do, please call us at 703-796-9555, or e-mail, as there are strict legal time limits to these cases and evidence can be erased or disappear if prompt action is not taken by experienced legal counsel, like the air injury team at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd.