FAA’s safety measures at BNA similar to precautions used at Reagan National Airport before deadly crash

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The first flight allowed out of Reagan National Airport after the deadly Washington, D.C. crash came to Nashville on Thursday morning.

Passengers on Southwest flight 1417 said they were very relieved to touchdown safely at BNA after the tragedy that’s presumed to have killed 67 people.

Kathy Zupan said Reagan National was much quieter than normal, with dozens of flights canceled, after the crash between a military helicopter and an American Eagle plane.

She felt numb thinking about the explosion her family saw in the sky on Wednesday night. At first, Zupan thought it was just a shooting star going in a weird direction.

“I think we are all a little bit nervous,” Zupan said about flying out of D.C. “When we took off, you could see the boats in the Potomac (River), so it was just a reminder of the tragedy from last night.”

An FAA spokesperson sent WSMV a statement saying there are standard routes in and out of airports, including BNA and Reagan National, designed to keep arriving and departing aircraft safely separated.

Some of the nation’s busiest airports also have advanced runway technology and planes have on-board collision-avoidance systems, the FAA said.

Middle Tennessee State University aerospace professor Robert Fowler said flying on a commercial plane is the safest form of transportation. Airplane crashes are very rare, compared to car crashes that are reported across the country every day.

“The problem with airline accidents is that when one happens, unfortunately a lot of people are injured or die, and there is a lot of property damage,” Fowler said. “It is a catastrophic event when it happens, but it rarely happens.”

Fowler said planes are hard to maneuver, so they have right of way over helicopters going in and out of airports. Airplanes have blind spots for the pilot’s line of sight, Fowler said, so they rely on air traffic control radar and object warning systems.

When Fowler saw a video of the crash and started to review the information being investigated by officials. The helicopter pilots were told to follow the plane that was approaching the airport. Fowler said it is harder to see planes and visually track traffic at night.

“The helicopter pilot was told to look for traffic and to pass behind it,” Fowler said. “My first thought was perhaps the helicopter pilot thought that the other aircraft (seen in the video) was the aircraft that the air traffic controller had told him to look for.”

Fowler expects there to be changes made at Reagan National Airport and other airports nationwide after this crash investigation is complete. He said that could include limits or more training for military flights around commercial airplanes.

Julie and David Bulitt live in the D.C. area but prefer to fly out of Baltimore’s airport because they feel safer there than at Reagan National. They didn’t let concerns from the crash stop them from flying to Nashville on Thursday for a birthday weekend trip.

“There are people who are very nervous flyers,” Julie said. “I talked with a flight attendant on the plane that was flying with us today. I said, ‘People’s anxiety is going to be heightened today.’ I’m a therapist, and I just know that if you have any inkling of anxiety, this would just up it really badly.”

David lived in Washington during the 1982 plane crash into the frozen Potomac River. He said they are going to be closely monitoring the outcome of this investigation and be on alert for any issues with their flights going forward.