The Federal Aviation Administration said it is reducing the number of planes that can land at Reagan National Airport each hour.
The move comes as the recovery mission continues after last week’s deadly midair collision involving an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk Helicopter near the Arlington airport.
The bodies of all 67 victims killed in the crash have been recovered and positively identified. There were 60 passengers on Flight 5342, and four crew members — two pilots and two flight attendants. The helicopter had three pilots on board.
Airlines got word of the change at Reagan National on Wednesday night, according to Reuters, which obtained a copy of an email that went out. The memo said arriving flights would be reduced from 28 to 26, as all planes share one runway at the airport.
In the email, officials said concerns expressed by both FAA and National Transportation Safety Board investigators about the well-being of air traffic controllers led to the decision.
The investigators expressed “concern for our tower personnel on duty, who have an increased level of stress while also having a front row view of the accident recovery,” according to the email.
Since the collision, the airport has seen average delays of 40 minutes for travelers, but the reduction in arrivals will increase those delays to around 50 minutes.
It remains unclear if the decision will lead to any flights out of Reagan National being canceled.
With the passage of the FAA’s Reauthorization Act late last year, Congress increased the number of long-distance arrivals and departures that could fly into and out of DCA by five slots.
Runway 1/19 is the busiest runway in the nation’s airport system, handling 90% of the flights in and out of the airport, due to the shorter distance of the other runways.
Members of the NTSB and the FAA briefed members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which oversees aviation on the status of the investigation.
“The NTSB is always going to push safety first, and we should listen to their recommendations,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, the ranking Democratic member of the committee.
“It is a continuing process,” Cantwell told reporters during a brief Q&A session. “You want them to get the facts. The facts are important because, in the end, you want the system to recognize this incident and improve from it. You have to get the true cause. Oftentimes, it takes months, it’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it is, and you want to get the right information.”
WTOP’s Dan Ronan contributed to this report.
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