FAA Reopens Reagan Runways, Boosts Arrivals Rate After DC Plane Crash

ARLINGTON, VA — The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday reopened runways and increased the arrivals rate at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, two weeks after 67 people were killed when an American Airlines flight collided midair with a Black Hawk Army helicopter near the airport.

In a statement posted online, FAA officials said runways 4/22 and 15/33 at Reagan have reopened after authorities initially closed them to assist investigation efforts following the Jan. 29 collision.

Officials also said the hourly arrivals rate at the airport would increase to 28 per hour. While the normal arrivals rate is 32, officials reduced it to 26 flights per hour to address safety concerns and "allow a little space for extra coordination," according to an email obtained by Reuters.

The restrictions on helicopter traffic around Reagan remain in effect, according to the FAA.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the crash between American Airlines flight 5342 and the Black Hawk Army helicopter on a training flight. The plane was about to land at Reagan National Airport when the crash occurred, killing everyone on board both aircraft.

The remains of all 67 victims have been recovered and identified.

According to the NTSB, all major pieces from the plane and helicopter involved in the crash have been recovered and moved to a secure airport facility, where investigators will have access to the debris.

The crew was likely wearing night vision goggles at the time of the crash, National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday. Homendy said investigators listening to the recovered cockpit voice recorder do not hear the crew say they are flying “unaided” — which they would have indicated if they did not have goggles on.

In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, the director of Army aviation and a former UH-60 Black Hawk pilot, said crews train to fly at night with or without the goggles. Whether to wear them is the call of the pilot in command, but if they are worn, all three crew members will have them on.

“Army policy says that as a crew, you will either all be goggled up or you’ll all de-goggle together,” Braman said.

Night vision goggles can make depth perception and determining the closing distance to an object more difficult as the lights appear as bright blooms that can be hard to distinguish. Crews train to handle those challenges, Braman said, and are taught to cross-check distance, such as by briefly looking out from under the goggles.

Following Thursday's NTSB briefing, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said investigators told them the Black Hawk had ADS-B turned off. ADS-B, short for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, provides more accurate and real-time tracking of an aircraft’s location, ground speed and altitude, whereas the radar sweeps of an aircraft can be delayed by several seconds.

On a training mission, there was “no compelling national security reason” for ADS-B to be turned off, Cruz said.

A person familiar with that briefing said investigators did not confirm whether it was on or off. While military aircraft can turn ADS-B off in order to protect sensitive missions, it is supposed to be turned off only for limited circumstances. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to provide additional details about the private briefing.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.