Airports

The Federal Aviation Administration announced yesterday that it is tightening safety rules in busy airspace around major airports. The agency will suspend the use of visual separation between helicopters and planes. Visual separation is a procedure where air traffic controllers warn pilots about nearby aircraft and instruct them to avoid other craft through visual observation. The agency's decision comes more than a year after the collision of a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter with an American Airlines regional jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people. The FAA also identified two recent close calls that prompted this policy change.The Federal Aviation Administration announced yesterday that it is tightening safety rules in busy airspace around major airports. The agency will suspend the use of visual separation between helicopters and planes. Visual separation is a procedure where air traffic controllers warn pilots about nearby aircraft and instruct them to avoid other craft through visual observation. The agency's decision comes more than a year after the collision of a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter with an American Airlines regional jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people. The FAA also identified two recent close calls that prompted this policy change.