On June 10th, the nominee for the Director of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) appointed by President Trump, expressed concerns over the occurrences of 85 near collisions at Reagan Washington National Airport since 2021, deeming it unacceptable. The nominee, Bryan Bedford, highlighted the severity of the situation, especially with the tragic incident on January 29th involving a Black Hawk helicopter colliding with an American Airlines regional jet near the airport, resulting in 67 fatalities.
Bedford questioned why the issue of near collisions at Reagan National Airport had not been effectively addressed prior to that fateful night in January. He emphasized the urgent need for significant investments in air traffic control by the FAA to ensure public safety and restore confidence in air travel.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported in March that there had been over 15,200 incidents of commercial airplanes and helicopters coming too close to each other near Reagan Airport since 2021, with insufficient lateral separation of less than 1 nautical mile and vertical separation of less than 400 feet, leading to 85 near collisions.
If his appointment is confirmed, Bedford stated that his top priority would be to ensure public safety and rebuild public trust in aviation. He had previously raised concerns about the leadership and personnel quality within the FAA.
On Wednesday, FAA Acting Director Chris Rocheleau, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, and Army Aviation Brigadier General Matthew Braman are set to attend a hearing to address questions from the Senate regarding the May 1st incident where two civilian aircraft had to abort landing near Reagan Airport due to military helicopter activity in the vicinity. Following the incident, the FAA prohibited military training or priority transport flights near the Pentagon.
Bedford, a U.S. commercial executive who has served as the CEO of Republic Airways Holdings since 1999, was nominated by President Trump in March to be the FAA Director.
A bipartisan group of ten former FAA Directors and Acting Directors supported Trump’s nomination of Bedford, including former FAA Director Mike Whitaker, nominated by the previous administration. Whitaker, who resigned on January 20th after completing just over a year of his five-year term, emphasized the importance of modernizing the country’s air traffic control system and saw Bedford as having the exceptional qualities to lead this effort.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy proposed allocating billions of dollars to renovate air traffic operations at the FAA.
Furthermore, on Monday, 24 U.S. senators requested audits of the January 29th aviation disaster by the Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General.
(Reference: Reuters)