section_path: Background/Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
section_name: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
paragraph_text: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
  
  The airspace around Reagan National Airport is among the world's most complex and closely monitored, with restrictions on both sides of the Potomac River to protect government buildings in Washington, D.C. Efforts have been made to reduce congestion, but in 2024, Congress approved additional flights. Military helicopter operations further complicated the airspace, including a helicopter corridor which passes within 15 feet (4.6 m) vertically of the approach to runway 33.
  
  Reagan National has three runways: 1/19, 15/33, and 4/22. Runways 1/19 handle 95% of commercial aircraft arrivals. Runway 33 handles about 4%, and runway 15—due to its close proximity to the Pentagon —handles less than 1%.: 18 Runways 4/22 are too short for commercial aircraft. During north operations, which were in effect at the time of the collision, most arrivals occur on runway 1, with intermittent arrivals on runway 33, depending on traffic demands and separation requirements.: 10 The use of runway 33 is typically limited to smaller aircraft, which are able to land on its relatively short 5,204-foot-long (1,586 m) surface.: 12
  
  On the night of the collision, air traffic control (ATC) staffing was below the typical level for that time and traffic volume, according to a preliminary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety report. Normally, the tower had six controllers: assistant local control, ground control, clearance delivery, local control, and an operations supervisor.: 10 At 9:30 p.m., when air traffic usually decreases, the helicopter control and local control positions are typically combined. However, on the day of the collision, the supervisor merged those positions at 3:40 p.m.: 10 allowing one controller to leave early. The air traffic controllers' union cautioned against assuming the combined role would make conditions unsafe. Helicopter control and local control operate on different radio frequencies, meaning the crews of Flight 5342 and PAT25 were not able to hear each other's transmissions to the controller, but both could hear the controller's responses.: 10
  
  The New York Times reported that as of September 2023, the tower at Reagan Airport was nearly a third below targeted staffing levels. The staffing shortage has forced many controllers to work up to six days a week and 10 hours daily.