The Air Current
Will Guisbond
23 Jun 2026
U.S. Coast Guard aviation leadership sharply criticized the Federal Aviation Administration’s changes to Washington, D.C.’s congested airspace following a January 2025 midair collision, saying the revisions may increase the risk of a serious accident between helicopters.
In a June 17 public Transportation Research Board (TRB) meeting, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) personnel suggested the FAA did not adequately weigh the risks of a helicopter-on-helicopter collision when moving to eliminate helicopter routes and change airspace procedures to protect against close calls between rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft. Instead, charting revisions are pushing helicopters closer together, making it harder for crews to train for proficiency and increasing the risk of helicopter controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), the USCG pilots said...
