Much remains unknown about the recent collision between an American Eagle jet and a US Army helicopter, but one aspect is clear: the skies above Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) are heavily congested. Simple Flying continues to cover the incident, highlighting past warning signs from near misses at the airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and airport officials have long been aware of the congestion issues at DCA. In 2024, two incidents involving aircraft at DCA nearly resulted in collisions, but potential accidents were avoided.
On April 18, 2024, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and a JetBlue Airways Embraer E190 narrowly escaped a runway collision. Air traffic controllers intervened just in time to stop both planes before disaster struck. Senators Chris Van Hollen, Ben Cardin, Mark R. Warner, and Tim Kaine expressed their concerns about safety at DCA:
“Just last week, two planes came within 300 feet of colliding on DCA’s runway – a frightening and visible demonstration that DCA is at capacity. Thankfully, there was no loss of life – this time. But this new analysis from the FAA demonstrates conclusively once and for all that passengers simply cannot afford for Congress to further meddle in airport operations by jamming more flights onto DCA’s already-overburdened runway.”
Another incident occurred on May 29, 2024, when an American Airlines Airbus A319 had to abort take-off to avoid a collision with a private King Air flight landing on an intersecting runway. The controller instructed:
“American 2134, cancel take-off clearance. Zero, Alpha, Alpha, go around, go around.”
A voice from the King Air responded: “Zero, alpha, alpha cannot go around; we were already on the ground.” Both aircraft exited safely without further incident.
Senator Tim Kaine reiterated his concerns about overcrowding at DCA:
“I’m relieved no one was hurt. But this incident underscores again that DCA is at capacity. This shows why Senate action to jam even more flights into DCA was so dangerous. The FAA must resist any new flights that compromise safety.”
In May 2024, Congress approved legislation adding five new round-trip flights to Washington National as part of the FAA’s reauthorization despite opposition from some airlines and lawmakers like Senator Kaine who cited safety concerns due to congestion.
Opponents of the expansion pointed to near-misses in March 2023 and April 2024 as evidence against increasing flights at DCA. Senator Kaine has warned for years about the overwhelmed system posing public safety threats: “why we can’t keep cramming more flights to this airport.”
