The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board has called Hollywood Burbank Airport a high risk of air collisions and urged federal regulators to take action.
NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy, speaking at a board meeting in Washington, said commercial airlines have warned of the risk of a collision at Burbank Airport. The airport is a busy class C, or medium, with short runways and tight airspace. It is among the “hot spots” with the highest volume of helicopters and airplanes, according to the FAA.
“Burbank is one where the commercial airlines have called me and said the next radio station will be in Burbank, and there isn’t one [the Federal Aviation Administration] he pays attention to us,” said Homendy.
He added that “whether it involves helicopters or not, people are raising red flags, and why aren’t people listening? The FAA has to ensure safety. That’s their job.”
Homendy spoke shortly before the first anniversary of the tragedy that killed 67 people outside Washington, D.C. The agency released findings about the crash of an American Airlines jetliner and an Army Black Hawk helicopter. As Homendy laid out what he called a series of institutional failures by the FAA before the January 2025 crash, he raised concerns about the mixing of airplanes and helicopters, noting that there are many data points to the risk of collisions.
A representative from Hollywood Burbank Airport referred all questions and comments to the FAA.
An FAA spokesperson responded that the agency, which responsible for the safety of the nation’s airspace“we took immediate action to improve security” after last year’s crash outside Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
“In February 2025, we started using AI tools to identify similar hotspots with high helicopter and air traffic and make appropriate reductions,” the statement read.
The agency added that the Van Nuys and Hollywood Burbank airports are among its focus areas.
“It is supported [on] “Based on our safety analysis, the FAA reduced the Van Nuys traffic pattern by 200 feet during a 2025 test to see if that would reduce conflicts with aircraft landings in Burbank,” the statement read.
There have been close calls in Hollywood Burbank before.
In February 2023, a Mesa Airlines flight attempted to land on the same runway as a SkyWest Airlines flight, and the planes came within 1,680 feet of each other.
The pilots on the Mesa Airlines flight decided that the separation between their plane and the one taking off was insufficient and began a go-around, when the landing was aborted.
“The air traffic controller did not issue a traffic advisory or safety alert, as required, to one of the flight crew immediately afterwards. [the Mesa Airlines plane] a go-around was reported, or during the following minutes when both aircraft were in an unsafe position,” according to the NTSB’s investigative report.
The investigation revealed that the controller, distracted by a third plane circling the airport, delayed clearing the SkyWest plane for takeoff and failed to adequately monitor the runway and runway.
The controller then steered the Mesa plane onto a potential collision course, triggering cockpit alarms on both planes. The Traffic Collision Avoidance System issued warnings and directed the planes separately.
In addition, the NTSB report stated that the lack of tracking equipment at the airport contributed to the incident.
City News Service contributed to this report.
