WASHINGTON, D.C.— Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials denied a safety-driven request to reduce flight arrivals at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) months before a deadly mid-air collision involving an American Airlines (AA) passenger jet and a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, according to internal records released by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The request, submitted on May 9, 2023, came from air traffic controllers at Potomac Consolidated Terminal Radar Approach Control in Warrenton, Virginia, who oversee traffic into Reagan National, the primary airport serving the U.S. capital and a key hub for members of Congress.

FAA Denied Reduced Flights at DCA

Controllers at PCT TRACON warned that increasing congestion at Reagan was creating unsafe operating conditions, particularly during peak arrival periods.

They sought to reduce hourly arrivals on the airport’s primary runway from 36 to 32 aircraft to improve spacing and workload management.

According to internal FAA correspondence, the controllers cited an inability to consistently maintain the required four miles of separation between arriving aircraft. They said this limitation made it increasingly difficult to manage traffic flows safely into the tightly constrained airspace surrounding the airport.

An FAA official serving at the time as Washington district general manager declined to forward the request up the agency’s management chain, controllers told investigators.

The PCT TRACON team never received a formal written response and was instead verbally informed that the request would not proceed.

Political Pressure Concerns

Investigators found that concerns over political repercussions played a role in the decision. Reagan National is heavily used by lawmakers traveling between Washington and their home districts, and Congress was simultaneously advancing legislation to expand airline slot allocations at the airport.

Internal NTSB documents released in June quote controllers as being told the issue was “too political” to advance.

The same records suggest that FAA leadership was wary of opposition from House and Senate members who depended on frequent service at the airport.

In January 2025, American Airlines Flight 5342, operating into Reagan National, collided midair with an Army UH-60 Black Hawk during the final approach to runway 33.

The crash killed all 64 passengers and crew aboard the jet and three crew members on the helicopter.

Post-Crash Actions

According to The Washington Post, following the accident, arrivals at Reagan National were temporarily reduced to 28 flights per hour. That cap has since increased to about 30 arrivals per hour, and officials familiar with the investigation say the reduction is not permanent.

Before the crash, arrival rates sometimes exceeded planned limits, reaching as high as 50 aircraft per hour during peak periods. NTSB records indicate that such congestion forced controllers to rely on continual mitigation strategies, including last-minute runway changes.

One common measure involved diverting aircraft to runway 33, a shorter and less frequently used runway requiring a more complex approach path.

Flight 5342 was reassigned to runway 33 moments before the collision, placing it directly over the helicopter’s operating corridor.

In the final 90 seconds before impact, the controller responsible for the airspace was managing 12 aircraft, including five helicopters. Investigators also found the Black Hawk was flying above its permitted altitude and had disabled its ADS-B system, limiting its visibility to other aircraft.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced permanent restrictions on certain helicopter routes near Reagan shortly before the first anniversary of the crash.

Additional safety recommendations are expected when the NTSB votes on its final report.

Bottom Line

The denied request to reduce arrivals at Reagan National highlights unresolved tensions between safety margins and political pressure, a conflict now central to the NTSB’s examination of how a congested airport environment contributed to one of the deadliest U.S. aviation accidents in recent years.

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