Air-Traffic Staffing Rules Tightened at Reagan Airport After Fatal Crash

wsj.com

16 points·impish9208··6 comments

Gift link: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/dc-plane-crash-dca-air-traffic-r...

> The FAA later allowed lower-ranking tower employees such as supervisors to make that call so long as they considered factors like traffic levels, weather and VIP moments.

What is a VIP moment? Does this mean they care more about safety when there is a VIP flying?

I don’t know either, but it seems more likely to involve planes that suddenly take priority or require special handling due to VIP status. Say, Air Force One landing.

I’m guessing here, but I think it’s because of irregular flight patterns during a VIP moments, so more edge cases surface.

Yeah, VIP Temporary Flight Restriction involves the closure of airspace around Air Force One to business & general aviation craft[1], which could mean a fair amount of rerouting depending on the situation.

1: https://nbaa.org/aircraft-operations/airspace/alerts/notams-...

I think it might be a typo that was supposed to say VIP Movement.

I've heard ATC use that term when Air Force One was in the area. They won't say who specifically is there, or even that it is AF 1, but instead just say that air space is closed "due to VIP Movement".

I don't think it means they care more about safety when a VIP is around, rather that a VIP movement might shut certain other operations down, which increases the overall workload for ATC.

For example they sometimes (or always?) stop all ground traffic from even moving while AF 1 is taxiing, landing or taking off.

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