(The Center Square) – The Federal Aviation Administration spotlighted commercial helicopter traffic around Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas during a national roundtable earlier this month.
The Rotorcraft Safety Roundtable came in the wake of a Jan. 39 crash in Washington, D.C. between a military helicopter and a commercial plane, the deadliest aviation crash in the United States in nearly a quarter century. The crash left 67 people dead.
The FAA has identified Harry Reid International Airport as one of the most at-risk airports for potential collisions. The helicopter tour industry is a major player in Las Vegas tourism, but with the airport only three miles from the Las Vegas Strip, collisions are a very real possibility.
“For example, the agreements with local helicopter operators require them to avoid arrival and departure corridors that lack defined vertical or lateral measurements,” an FFA news release said. “And tower controllers do not issue traffic advisories between returning air tour helicopters and arriving or departing airplanes, resulting in a routine lack of compliance with Class B separation rules.”
The news release notes that the FAA “took quick action, including exercising positive control over the helicopters and issuing more traffic advisories to pilots. As a result, the number of ‘proximity events’ decreased by 30 percent in just three weeks.”
Airport officials referred The Center Square to the FAA when asked to comment.
“We’re continuing to review whether additional actions around Las Vegas are required,” the FAA’s Cassandra Nolan told The Center Square. “As we identify issues around other airports, we’ll take any immediate action necessary in those locations, too.”
