FAA officials weighed closing Reagan National Airport runway after 2024 close calls, sources say
CBSN
Top officials at the Federal Aviation Administration, including then-Administrator Michael Whitaker, pushed last summer to close one of three runways at Washington's Reagan National Airport following two close calls between airliners still on the ground, multiple sources told CBS News.
Whitaker, who resigned as FAA administrator ahead of the transition to the Trump administration, and others at the FAA wanted to close Runway 4 to traffic following an incident in April and another about six weeks later in late May.
On April 18, there was a close call between Southwest Flight 2937 to Orlando and JetBlue Flight 1554 to Boston. The Southwest Boeing 737 was told to cross Runway 4 at the same time as the JetBlue Embraer 190 was cleared to take off from the same runway. Air traffic controllers ordered both planes to stop, but they came within approximately 300 feet of colliding.
