The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday expressed concerns over the dangerous possibility of the next deadly mid-air collision happening at Hollywood Burbank Airport.
The NTSB chair says its commercial airlines that are sounding the alarm, and says the FAA should take the warnings from airlines seriously.
“I keep hearing about other areas in the airspace where they are concerned. Burbank is one where commercial airlines have called me to say the next mid-air is going to be at Burbank, and nobody at FAA is paying attention to us,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a hearing, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration. “So, whether it is involving helicopters or not, people are raising red flags, and why aren’t people listening? The FAA has to ensure safety. That is their job.”
Tuesday’s hearing was part of the investigation into a deadly mid-air crash near Washington, D.C. last year that left 67 people dead and involved an Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane.
Whether it’s helicopters like the deadly crash in D.C., or private aircraft, the concern is the amount of traffic coming and going from Burbank Airport and Van Nuys Airport in a relatively small airspace. Both airports are extremely busy.