The FAA and U.S. Coast Guard disagree on the safety of the airspace near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA) in D.C. following major changes the regulator recently implemented.
The FAA in January published an interim final rule that would permanently restrict nonessential helicopter and powered-lift aircraft operations in certain areas near KDCA, building on updates it made to the airport’s helicopter routes and zones in October. For example, helicopter Route 3 over the Wilson Bridge—which intersected the route that planes use to approach the airport’s runway 1—was replaced by the Bridge Creek Transition, a less direct route further from fixed-wing traffic.
