The Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Wednesday a new safety measure that limits the use of visual separation between airplanes and helicopters at busy airports, replacing it with mandatory radar-based separation in key controlled airspace — a step the agency said grew directly out of the deadly midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport last year.
The new notice, issued March 18, applies to Class B and Class C airspace and Terminal Radar Service Areas across the national airspace system. Under the revised protocol, air traffic controllers are required to use radar to maintain specific lateral or vertical distances between helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft wherever helicopters cross airport arrival or departure paths, rather than relying on pilots to see and avoid each other.
“The tragedy over the Potomac one year ago revealed a startling truth: years of warning signs were missed, and the FAA needed dire reform,” Transportation Secretary Duffy said in the announcement. He said the agency used enhanced data analysis to identify the need for stronger protocols at airports with significant volumes of mixed helicopter and airplane traffic.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the agency had identified an overreliance on pilot “see and avoid” operations that contributed to safety risks involving helicopters and airplanes. “Today, we are proactively mitigating risks before they affect the traveling public,” Bedford said.
The FAA cited two recent near-miss incidents as evidence of the problem. On Feb. 27, American Airlines Flight 1657 was on approach to San Antonio International Airport when a police helicopter crossed its final approach path, the agency said — the two aircraft were on converging courses before the helicopter turned to avoid a collision. A similar incident occurred March 2 at Hollywood Burbank Airport in Southern California, when a Beechcraft 99 and a helicopter were on converging courses before the helicopter turned away.
The agency said the new protocols stem from a year-long review of cross-traffic patterns and incident data at airports with high volumes of mixed helicopter and airplane operations.
The FAA cautioned that helicopter operators accustomed to quick clearances through certain areas may face rerouting or delays, though pilots conducting urgent medical or law enforcement missions will receive priority clearance, which could at times affect airline operations.
The announcement follows a series of procedural changes the FAA said it has made at and around Reagan National since the Jan. 29, 2025, collision, including permanent helicopter restrictions finalized in an interim final rule published in January 2026.
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