The FAA has determined that a triumphal arch proposed by President Donald Trump would not pose a hazard to aircraft.
The agency said safety experts studied the airspace, traffic patterns, and procedures at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and nearby military and public-use airports as part of its review. The monument would be located less than two miles north of Reagan National. The FAA also noted the site’s proximity to the Pentagon Army Heliport.
In June, the FAA said the arch would need red safety lights, but its final ruling dropped that requirement and proposed the structure be “appropriately marked with a non-standard eternal flame” on top and lit by floodlights “to make it noticeable for pilots.”
It was not clear what the eternal flame might look like, as it was not included in the original plans.
Trump is looking to build the arch in a traffic circle on Memorial Drive between the western end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge and the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. While across the Potomac River, Columbia Island, where the monument would be built, is considered part of D.C.
The arch is controversial, as its 250-foot height would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial and come close to rivaling the Capitol Building. A public advocacy group has sued to block construction on the grounds that the project has not been approved by Congress and would break the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington.
Preliminary excavation work at the site is expected to begin this month.
