California airport could be site of a mid-air crash, airlines warn feds

Airline officials have warned of safety concerns at the Hollywood Burbank Airport, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board said during a hearing Tuesday, Jan. 27, to determine the cause of a mid-air collision that killed 67 people in Washington, D.C. last year.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told officials there were a series of failures by the Federal Aviation Administration before an American Airlines jet and Army Black Hawk helicopter collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, including the mixing of helicopter and commercial airplane traffic.

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Homendy said airline officials worry that a similar collision could take place at the Burbank airport unless the FAA steps in.

“Burbank is one where commercial airlines have called me to say the next mid-air is going to be at Burbank, and nobody at FAA is paying attention to us,” Homendy said at the hearing. “So, whether it is involving helicopters or not, people are raising red flags, and why aren’t people listening? The FAA has to ensure safety. That is their job.”

Hollywood Burbank officials had no comment on Homendy’s statement, and were referring questions to the FAA.

The FAA in response to Homendy on Tuesday said in a statement that after the crash near Reagan National last year, it implemented AI tools starting in February “to identify similar hotspots with high volumes of mixed helicopter and airplane traffic and implement appropriate mitigations.”

The effort focused in part on Van Nuys Airport and Hollywood Burbank Airport, the FAA said.

After its safety analysis, the FAA tested lowering the Van Nuys Airport traffic pattern by 200 feet to reduce conflicts with landings in Burbank. The FAA permanently lowered the traffic pattern on Jan. 5 after finding the change reduced alerts on the Traffic Collision Avoidance System.

Hollywood Burbank Airport, which is a destination for nine airlines, served more than 505,000 passengers in December, according to a monthly report from the airport.

City News Service contributed to this story.