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American Morning
America Recovers: Reagan National Airport to Reopen with Tighter Security
Aired October 02, 2001 - 09:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Reagan National Airport just across the river from where Andrea stands right now has remained closed since September 11th attacks, because of that close proximity to key government installations including the White House and the Capitol. However we know this morning, that Reagan National Airport is now on the way to being reopened. With quite a few asterisks behind that.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the airport as it reawakens, and she has more on the asterisks. Good morning, Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. The announcement from President Bush here at Reagan National Airport is expected within about two hours. And likely to begin first, so we hear, would be shuttle flights -- Us Airways, Delta shuttle flights -- appropriately to New York City, and then after that to Boston. There will obviously, Miles, be those asterisks, and they include tough new security measures. We're talking about things like armed federal air marshals aboard each and every flight to and from Reagan National Airport; things like tougher cockpit doors -- to keep the pilots in and any potential terrorists out -- and also double screening for any passengers who would pass through this airport. Obviously this opening cannot come soon enough for those who live in this area and use this airport, and those who work here.
Washington, D.C.'s Congressional Delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton says that the economic impact of its three week closure has been devastating.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DELEGATE ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D), DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: If you think about the people, alone, if you take the National Airport, and you take the employees there, and the shutdown of our tourism industry, you are talking about 15,000 people. You're talking about people work for the airport, people who work for the airlines who can't get in, and people who work for the hotels and restaurants in the District Of Columbia. If the president does is, as I think he will, announce the opening of the airport today, will come not a moment too soon!.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: When the flights do resume, the challenge will be, what it has always been and that is keeping aircraft out of that prohibited airspace over the White House, over the nation's capitol. Now, as early as 1998, we were seeing incursions into that prohibited airspace at the rate of nearly four a month. The FAA put out an advisory then, and the incursions dropped to just 16 the following year.
However, the last two years, the incursions into that prohibited airspace were back up -- 25 in 2000 and 20 through August of this year. The FAA obviously very concerned about that, and that is one of the reasons, Miles, where they're -- why they're considering perhaps, stopping general aviation, the private aircraft from ever using this airport again. They were the most frequent violators of that prohibited airspace.
O'BRIEN: Kathleen, as you mentioned, one of the things they're looking at is changing the approaches to National Airport, but there are some geographic limitations as to what they can do -- eventually plane's going to have to be awfully low, awfully close to some important landmarks in order to land that airport. How much can they do?>
KOCH: Miles, what they are talking about doing is instead of having that standard approach -- which was always down the Potomac river -- varying the approach; having the planes come in from different directions, and, generally, if at all possible, not so close to the city limits. Obviously, that will be a bone of contention for the residents in the Virginia area who have worked very hard to keep those planes from being over their homes all the time. So it won't be the popular measure with the local residents, but the government obviously believes it's something that will greatly enhance security.
O'BRIEN: Alright, thank you very much. CNN's Kathleen Koch at Reagan National Airport, Paula.
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