Hollywood Burbank Airport could be at risk of a midair collision

The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board called Hollywood Burbank Airport’s mid-air collision risk alarming and called on federal regulators to take action.

Speaking at the board meeting in Washington, NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy said commercial airlines had warned about the risk of aircraft collisions at Burbank Airport. The airport is a busy Class C or medium-sized airport with short runways and narrow airspace. According to the FAA, it is among the “hot spots” with heavy helicopter and plane traffic.

“Burbank is a place where commercial airlines call me and tell me the next aircraft will be in Burbank, and there is no one there. [the Federal Aviation Administration] he takes care of us,” Homendy said.

He added: “Whether it’s about helicopters or not, people are raising red flags, and why don’t people listen? The FAA has to ensure safety. That’s their job.”

Homendy spoke just before the one-year anniversary of the catastrophic crash outside Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people. The agency announced its findings regarding the crash of an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter. Homendy laid out what he called a series of institutional failures by the FAA before the January 2025 crash, noting concerns about mixing commercial aircraft and helicopter traffic, noting that there is extensive data pointing to the danger of such a mid-air collision.

A representative at Hollywood Burbank Airport referred all questions and comments to the FAA.

An FAA spokesperson provided the agency’s response: Responsible for the security of the country’s airspaceLast year, Ronald Reagan “took immediate action to improve security” after a crash in front of Washington National Airport.

“In February 2025, we began using innovative AI tools to detect similar hotspots with high volumes of mixed helicopter and aircraft traffic and implement appropriate mitigation measures,” the statement said.

The agency added that Van Nuys and Hollywood Burbank airports are among its focus areas.

“Based [on] “Based on our safety analysis, the FAA reduced the Van Nuys traffic pattern by 200 feet during an evaluation in 2025 to see if this would reduce conflicts with aircraft landing in Burbank,” it said.

Homendy’s comments surprised some officials.

While it’s not unprecedented for safety concerns to be raised at an airport, it’s certainly unusual for it to happen without a recent accident or malfunction, said Randy Klatt, a former Navy and commercial pilot who now serves as a flight safety officer. Aviation Safety Foundation.

“It’s also unusual [NTSB] “The President will say he received information directly from the airlines,” Klatt said. “I hope the FAA will take action to help mitigate some of these dangers.”

While he is pleased that the FAA is taking some steps to reduce and replace air traffic at Hollywood Burbank, he said more focus should be placed on improving security at that airport and others around the country. Klatt said the airport itself has little control over these issues but could make some changes, such as limiting operating hours.

“We need to put more restrictions on where and when flights can take place,” Klatt said, noting that Hollywood Burbank airport is part of a particularly busy airspace.

He said unfortunately there is little the public can do about these concerns but recommends flying early in the morning or late at night when there are fewer planes in the air.

“It’s a good thing that someone is finally saying this is a risk,” Klatt said. “I hope we’ve turned the page a little bit.”

Homendy’s plea to the FAA has a familiar tone, according to Dan Feger, who was executive director at Hollywood Burbank from 2008 to 2016.

“I hope they wake up before the disaster the NTSB is warning about happens,” he told The Times.

There were industry-wide general aviation concerns that accounted for increased safety risks.

Feger said the growing shortage of experienced personnel at Southern California TRACON, the nation’s busiest radar approach control facility that handles nearly 2 million flights a year between Burbank and the border, poses a growing security threat, especially for Burbank, Van Nuys and Los Angeles International.

“With all three of them converging at the same waypoints to go north or east, there are not enough air traffic controllers to do that safely,” Feger said. “But they don’t say that.”

When it comes to Hollywood Burbank, Feger pointed out two specific issues, especially taxiways. Opening of the new terminal of the airport, Scheduled for Octoberit did not include an extension of nearby Taxiway B. Taxiway A will instead be widened, but only after the existing operating terminal is demolished.

Feger said limited taxiway space means there will be scenarios where planes take off, land and taxi on the same runway.

“The Taxiway A expansion will be completed approximately two years after the replacement terminal opens,” Feger said. “Operations at BUR in this two-year time period will be much more unsafe than they are currently.”

Feger also said he had petitioned for years to shorten one of the No. 33 runways to allow construction of the Engineered Material Arrest System, a type of crush zone to stop planes that overshoot their landings.

He said there is currently a blast fence that may not be enough to stop a plane that could theoretically crash into nearby railroad tracks.

“It could potentially be a plane crashing into a Metrolink train,” he said. “It’s all very strange.”

There have been close calls in Hollywood Burbank before.

In February 2023, a Mesa Airlines plane attempted to land on the runway from which a SkyWest Airlines flight had departed, and the planes came within 5,680 feet of each other.

The pilots on the Mesa Airlines plane decided that the distance between their vehicle and the departing vehicle was insufficient and initiated a go-around during which the landing was aborted.

“The local controller did not properly issue a traffic alert or safety alert to any of the flight crew immediately following the incident. [the Mesa Airlines plane] They reported going around or that both planes were in an unsafe proximity to each other in the minutes that followed, according to an NTSB investigative report.

The investigation found that the controller was distracted by a third aircraft circling the airport, delayed the SkyWest flight from being cleared for takeoff, and failed to adequately monitor the runway and airspace.

The controller then directed the Mesa aircraft onto a path at risk of collision, triggering cockpit alarms in both aircraft. The Traffic Collision Avoidance System issued warnings and separated the planes.

Additionally, the NTSB report stated that the airport’s lack of ground and approach tracking equipment also contributed to the incident.

City News Service contributed to this report.