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US Transportation Chief Says He Will Ensure Safety of DC Air Traffic
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By Reuters
Published 3 months ago on
December 12, 2025

Search and rescue teams work near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the Potomac River, outside Washington, U.S., January 31, 2025. (Reuters/Jeenah Moon)

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U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Friday he will not allow military helicopters and commercial passenger planes to come near Reagan Washington National Airport despite a bill in Congress that some critics say could lead to unsafe traffic.

A January 29 crash near Reagan between an Army Black Hawk and an American Airlines passenger jet killed 67 people and sparked alarm about aviation safety.  “We will not have fixed-wing and helicopter traffic. It’s not going to happen,” Duffy said at a press conference, adding department lawyers are studying the language, but he is confident he will be able to keep safeguards in place.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Rod Nickel)

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