US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford have officially announced a new measure that aims to enhance safety in areas where helicopters cross during both arrival and departure near busy airports.
The general notice (GENOT), which suspends the use of visual separation between airplanes and helicopters, now requires air traffic controllers to use radar to manage these aircraft, keeping them separated at specific lateral or vertical distances.
The protocol is based on a year-long review conducted by the FAA’s safety team which utilised tools to both review cross-traffic data and incident reports.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said:Today, we are proactively mitigating risks before they affect the traveling public.
Following the mid-air collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), we looked at similar operations across the national airspace. We identified an overreliance on pilot ‘see and avoid’ operations that contribute to safety events involving helicopters and airplanes.
Visual separation occurs when air traffic controllers advise pilots about nearby aircraft, allowing them to remain visually clear of the other aircraft in lieu of standard separation. The protocol change was made following FAA data revealing that, in high-traffic areas, visual separation was not enough of a safety mitigation tool.
