FAA finds safety concerns at Las Vegas airport in review spurred by midair collision in Washington

WASHINGTON AP A federal review of helicopter safety concerns launched after the deadly midair collision in Washington D C has identified a rash of concerns about the expected conflicts between air tour helicopters and planes at the Las Vegas airport Related Articles US medical functionaries move to phase out artificial dyes from the food supply Jury finds The New York Times did not libel former Alaska Gov Sarah Palin Largest part US adults give to charity Here s where they donated Bay State lawmakers demand answers after Tufts scholar sent to Louisiana Walgreens to pay up to million in U S opioid settlement The Federal Aviation Administration stated Tuesday that it imposed new restrictions on helicopter flights around Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas that have already cut the number of collision alerts planes were receiving by over the last three weeks The FAA stated in the wake of the collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter in January that it planned to use artificial intelligence to dig into the millions of reports it collects to assess other places with busy helicopter traffic including Boston New York Baltimore-Washington Detroit Chicago Dallas Houston Los Angeles and along the Gulf Coast The FAA s acting administrator Chris Rocheleau commented Las Vegas promptly became a concern once the agency dug into the details because agreements with helicopter operators there didn t clearly define vertical and lateral separation requirements when helicopters were approaching the airport And air traffic controllers in the tower weren t issuing traffic advisories between returning helicopters and airplanes We took quick action including exercising positive control over the helicopters and issuing more traffic advisories to pilots Rocheleau mentioned As a effect the number of traffic alert and collision avoidance system reports decreased by percent in just three weeks