The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board expressed concerns Tuesday over the possibility of a mid-air collision at Southern California’s Hollywood Burbank Airport.
The comments from NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy came at a news conference during a hearing about the investigation into a deadly mid-air crash last year near Washington, D.C. between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane.
Homendy was asked about other hotspots of air travel concerns around the country.
“I keep hearing about other areas in the airspace where they are concerned,” Homendy said. “Burbank is one where commercial airlines have called me to say the next mid-air is going to be at Burbank, and nobody at FAA is paying attention to us. So, whether it is involving helicopters or not, people are raising red flags, and why aren’t people listening? The FAA has to ensure safety. That is their job.”
The FAA released the following statement after Homendy’s comments.
“The FAA acted immediately to improve safety following the tragic midair collision, both at DCA and around the country,” the FAA said. “In February 2025, we began using innovative AI tools to identify similar hotspots with high volumes of mixed helicopter and airplane traffic and implement appropriate mitigations.
“One of our primary focus areas was Van Nuys Airport and nearby Hollywood Burbank Airport in the Los Angeles area. Based on our safety analysis, the FAA lowered the Van Nuys traffic pattern by 200 feet during an evaluation in 2025 to see if that would reduce conflicts with aircraft landing at Burbank. Preliminary data indicated the change resulted in a reduction of Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) alerts for Burbank arrivals and we permanently lowered the Van Nuys traffic pattern effective Jan. 5, 2026.”
NBCLA has reached out to Hollywood Burbank Airport for comment.
Located in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, the 555-acre Hollywood Burbank Airport about 12 miles north of downtown Los Angeles has two intersecting runways and handles about 6.5 million passengers each year and 74.8 million pounds of cargo.
Van Nuys Airport, about 9 miles to the west of Hollywood Burbank Airport, serves noncommercial air travel, such as private, corporate, and government aviation.
During Tuesday’s hearing on the Washington, D.C. crash, NTSB board members said they were troubled over years of ignored warnings about helicopter traffic dangers and other problems well before the Jan. 29 American Airlines jet and Army Black Hawk crash that killed 67 people. A key factor in the crash was the placement of a helicopter route int he approach path of Reagan National Airport’s secondary runway, the board said, also identifying air traffic controllers’ over reliance on asking helicopter pilots to avoid other aircraft as a factor.
Investigators said there was a history of missed opportunities to address those risks.
The collision was the deadliest plane crash in the United States since 2001. Victims included 28 members of the figure skating community.
Several high-profile crashes and close calls followed the D.C. collision, but NTSB statistics show that the total number of crashes last year was the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, with more than 1,400 nationwide.