FAA says Trump arch will not interfere with D.C. airport flight path

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday determined that President Trump’s planned triumphal arch next to Arlington Cemetery and near the Lincoln Memorial poses no hazard to flights coming into and departing from Washington Reagan National Airport. 

The FAA said that “the structure would have no substantial adverse effect” on the utilization of the D.C. National Airport airspace or on the operation of the airport’s navigation facilities. The FAA said it must also be alerted at least 10 days before construction officially begins.

Public comments submitted to the agency questioned whether the arch would affect capacity at the airport or pilot workload, but the FAA determined there was no issue.

The structure, which is expected to break ground in the coming days, has faced heavy criticism in the months since the president announced it, in particular because it would stand in the flight path for planes landing at and departing from nearby Washington Reagan National Airport, in Arlington, Virginia.

Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns that the 260-foot arch would further complicate an already complex airspace, where just a year and a half ago, the deadliest plane crash on American soil since 2009 occurred.

In a letter to the FAA in June, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois called the project “dangerous,” adding that it is “particularly irresponsible given the FAA’s ongoing efforts to implement safety enhancements in and around DCA following the preventable DCA collision in late January 2025.”

Earlier this year, the FAA completed an initial feasibility review of the structure, once it had been determined that the arch would exceed the 200-foot threshold allowed close to the airport. The FAA concluded that the arch would not impact flight operations or have any effect on navigational tools used to help pilots, but the review stated that obstruction lights would be required in order to alert planes to the existence of the structure. 

Weeks before the final approval was issued by the FAA, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced initial excavation work on the arch would begin. The FAA said Friday that any further alterations to plans or the height of the arch would need to be resubmitted to the agency. 

The arch would be located along D.C. National Airport’s most heavily used flight path.