A nationwide ban on letting pilots eyeball their way around helicopters near busy airports just landed, directly triggered by the Reagan National midair collision that killed 67 people.
FAA kills visual separation for helicopters
FAA kills visual separation for helicopters
- The FAA suspended the see-and-avoid rules at busy airports.
- Bryan Bedford flagged overreliance on pilot visual judgment.
- Controllers must actively manage helicopter flight paths.
- This rule stays active through late 2026.
- An Army Black Hawk slammed into American Airlines Flight 5342.
- Helicopter pilots got visual-separation clearance minutes before impact.
- They spotted the commercial jet barely a second beforehand.
- Controllers had leaned on visual separation to manage workload.
- Faulty visual separation has contributed to 40-plus fatal crashes since 2010.
- Reagan National houses the country's busiest runway.
- The controller workforce is short nearly 3,000 positions.
- Congress remains gridlocked on mandatory tracking-tech legislation.
