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CNN Saturday Morning News

Washington's Reagan National Resumes Normal Operations

Aired April 27, 2002 - 09:12   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: Seven months after the September 11 attacks, Washington's Reagan National Airport is resuming normal operations, or at least pretty close to it. It is the closest airport to the Pentagon and other national monuments. And anyone who flew in there before September 11 is familiar with the approach, which goes along the Potomac River. It seems as if you can reach out and touch those monuments.

CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us now to tell us if that approach is back. Hello, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.

Well, I don't know if you can tell it by looking behind me, but this i really the busiest that we have seen this airport on a Saturday morning since September 11, because as of today, the airlines are really free of the majority of the security restrictions on how they operate their aircraft and which aircraft they choose to operate.

For instance, the flight path that you mentioned, after 9/11, the planes have had to really stick to a straight and narrow flight path out over the northwest part of Washington, D.C. Basically that's the -- it took them over northwest, and they couldn't deviate from it, and what the air traffic controllers really keep a close eye on them.

Now, as you can see, they're going back to the red flight path that winds across the Potomac River and really lessens the noise for people in the area.

Another issue, they won't have to put the pedal to the metal on takeoff. They'll be able to throttle back a little bit again, not worried as much now about them having to quickly distance themselves from the nation's capital.

Another change is that the airlines will be able to operate between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., so they won't have that restriction. They used to fly about 50 to 60 flights a night in that time frame. Now those flights are coming back.

And then, of course, the final change is that the big planes, the 757s, are coming back in. They hold more than 156 people. They've been restricted because of the large amount of fuel that they also hold, which would make them a very lethal weapon if they were taken over by terrorists. Now, the passengers we talked to said that they have really mixed feelings about these changes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED AIR TRAVELER: Well, I guess it's good that the planes are going back over the river, because it -- the noise had been quite loud. I'm glad that they're lifting the time restrictions, because in fact that impacted this trip that we're taking today.

UNIDENTIFIED AIR TRAVELER: I don't think it's a good idea. You know, I think it's just -- the area is just too congested, and particularly with the defense situation that we're in right now, I just don't think it's a good idea.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

KOCH: Now, Miles, one thing that you can appreciate, being a pilot yourself, the one thing that they have not allowed back here at Reagan National Airport is the small private planes. General aviation is still banned from this airport, and they're not really sure if it's ever going to come back.

Back to you.

O'BRIEN: That is a huge personal bone of contention, I got to tell you, Kathleen.

Let's talk about flying in and out in those commercial aircraft, we have to sit down 30 minutes prior to arriving, 30 minutes after departure. That remains in place, and so do the sky marshals, correct?

KOCH: Exactly. Those restrictions remain in place. And Miles, it's really one of the reasons they felt comfortable with lifting the restrictions on the flight path and on that really quick and fast takeoff up into the air, because they said, Hey, we've got the cockpit doors reinforced, we've got air marshals on every flight. They are keeping the flight safe enough.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Kathleen Koch at Washington National Airport, where no general aviation will be flying at least for the foreseeable future. Too bad.

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