WASHINGTON — Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine both sent letters to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) raising concerns about the recent near-miss incidents at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
On May 29, an air traffic controller had to cancel takeoff for an American Airlines flight because another flight had been cleared to land on an intersecting runway at the same time. In April, two planes were just 300 feet from colliding with one another.
Both senators asked DOT Secretary Buttigieg how the agency and the FAA plan to implement the Reauthorization Act of 2024 which will add 10 additional flights in and out of the DCA airport without posing additional risks to passengers, airport personnel, and the facility.
“These recent near misses underscore the critical importance of ensuring the highest safety standards at our nation's airports, particularly for an airport as busy and nationally significant as DCA,” wrote the senators. “Recent near-miss incidents raise serious questions about the current capacity of DCA to handle additional flights without compromising the safety of air traffic control operations.”
For months, Warner and Kaine raised concerns about adding more flights at DCA. They filed an amendment to have the ten additional flights in and out of DCA removed from the bill.
The senators asked DOT to “… please provide information on any actions that the Department is taking in light of these two near misses, including the rationale behind those actions and any potential future actions under consideration. We also request that the Department share its plans for minimizing added risk to DCA’s facilities and personnel as these additional flights are forced into the daily schedule.”