WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) – The Trump administration said on Monday it is restructuring the Federal Aviation Administration and will create a new safety oversight office to consolidate functions across five different units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move comes a day before the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday is set to criticize the FAA’s failure to act on near-miss incidents at a hearing to determine the probable cause of the January 2025 collision between an Army helicopter and American Airlines passenger jet that killed 67 people near Reagan Washington National Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FAA said the new aviation safety office was part of a strategic plan to improve hiring and training and identify potential hazards. The overhaul will not result in reductions in force, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lawmakers from both parties have questioned why the FAA failed to act for years to address close calls involving helicopters near Reagan airport before the fatal collision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NTSB said last year that since 2021, there were more than 15,000 incidents near Reagan between commercial airplanes and helicopters with lateral separation distance of less than 1 nautical mile (1.85 km) and vertical separation of less than 400 feet (122 m), including 85 close-call incidents during that period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in August the FAA had ignored warnings about serious safety issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of the restructuring, the FAA is creating a safety management system and implementing an FAA-wide safety risk management process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, who took office in July, is overseeing a $12.5 billion rehabilitation of U.S. air traffic control, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wants another $19 billion to complete the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FAA in early May barred the Army from helicopter flights around the Pentagon after a May 1 close call<\/u><\/a> that forced two civilian planes to abort landings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The FAA is also in the process of moving its headquarters, opens new tab<\/u><\/a> into the main Transportation Department office in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n