Posted on 01/30/2025 7:59:23 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
Lawmakers repeatedly added flights despite fears of delays and accidents.
Congress has repeatedly voted to increase the number of daily flights at Reagan National Airport, adding departures that made life more convenient for lawmakers despite warnings that increased air traffic around Washington would raise the risk of delays and accidents.
On Tuesday, an American Airlines regional jet with 64 people on board collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River near the airport. Authorities have said that none of those on either aircraft are believed to have survived.
The causes of that collision are still unclear. But a look back at that airport’s recent history shows that Congress played a role in making the airspace around it busier.
Reagan is one of three U.S. airports governed by a “slot” system, in which the Federal Aviation Administration limits the number of daily takeoffs and landings to prevent overcrowded airspace. The other two are New York’s LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports.
But the limits at Reagan have been repeatedly expanded by Congress itself, whose members are major users of the airport.
Congress has added more than 50 new slots to the airport’s daily schedule since 2000, including 10 that lawmakers approved last year, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
The newest slots are not yet in use. Those flights are expected to begin in the coming weeks. When they do, Congress’s actions will have increased the airport’s authorized traffic by more than 50 takeoffs or landings, or more than 25 round trips.
Those increases have brought major benefits for members of Congress, allowing them to fly home from an airport just a few minutes from...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Hope they all know how to swim in 34 degree F water. /s
And yeah, ban military flights at the airport too.
This accident really needs to answer why the Army is flying around during active commercial runway hours.
Exactly.
You add thst plus helicopters flying around in the airspace and expect what happened yesterday to happen a few times a week
Good article. Kaine and Warner were right. That airport is like Grand Central Station. The residents in the area have complained for years of ther fears and of the terrible noise. Thos is no suprise to the 2 Senators, sadly.
Actually, the water was only waist high where the crash occurred.
Easy for Kane and Warner to say that since they can drive home. Think about poor Lisa Murkowski.
There is another airport, Dulles, she can make that drive.
Walk 100 yards in it. Let me know how it goes.
This crash is is going to have them rethinking that “convenience”.
Being dead is very inconvenient.
Not the point.
Wouldn’t it have been ironic had the aircraft included some congress critters who approved said flights.
I wonder which monster bill they buried that line-item in...
Are they daring Kamikaze Muslim pilots to try it?
If Congress had its way, DCA would be just for their own use. Congress has kept it open because it’s so convenient. It should have closed when Dulles opened in 1962.
To the degree the DC metro trains still work as intended, Dulles is now more functional in that it is on the rail network. I understand that connection finally was completed during Biden. I’m not claiming light rail is perfect, but libs who claim to love it can use it for Dulles.
Reagan is also on the metro. Much more convenient.
I can only imagine the conversations being had between Delta Airline’s safety experts and midlevel management suckups with the staffers as Ted Cruz’ and Raphael Warlock’s offices:
“Hey, we only wanted more of OUR flights to be approved into DCA… it’s what we PAID you to vote for. You DID take the campaign donations, right? So STFU.”
Congress will simply say, as with the Covid plandemic, “hey, we’re not theexperts, we did this to serve the needs of the peoples! Hurr-durr-dErP!”
Not adding enough ATC because of DEI will end up being one of the issues.
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