Private planes can now fly to Reagan National

Commercial flights only since 9/11 Airport still faces ‘ton of regulations’

WASHINGTON— Private aviation returned to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport yesterday, more than four years after restrictions were imposed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The first aircraft arrived at the airport, located near the Potomac River in Arlington, Va., from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey about 7 a. m. and taxied through a water arch formed by two fire trucks. The flight was permitted after the Transportation Security Administration introduced rigorous new rules requiring passengers and crew to undergo background checks.

Acertified armed security officer also must accompany each flight, and some trips require a federal sky marshal. Flights also have to land first at one of 12 gateway airports.

“ This is a first step,” said Rep. Tom Davis ( R— Va.) “ There are still a ton of regulations.” Reagan National’s location is sensitive to security officials because the airport’s runways carry planes near the White House, Capitol and Pentagon. Commercial airline flights at the airport resumed about a month after Sept. 11, but it’s taken incessant lobbying by local officials and business leaders — as well as congressional intervention — to persuade federal authorities the airport was safe for general aviation. But some people oppose opening the airport to private planes, arguing it will be harder to differentiate planes that are allowed to fly within the restricted airspace over Washington from those without permission.

Pilots have strayed hundreds of times since the government restricted airspace over the area just before the start of the Iraq war in 2003. In many cases, fighter jets, which are prepared to shoot down a plane, escorted an errant plane to an airport.

Until today, most private flights were diverted to a regional airport about 50 kilometres southwest of Reagan National.