The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday issued two “urgent” safety recommendations after discovering thousands of close calls between helicopters and planes near

The National Transportation and Safety Board is recommending helicopters no longer fly along the route when planes are landing on specific runways at DCA.

“We’ve determined that the existing separation distances between helicopter traffic operating on Route 4 and aircraft landing on Runway 33 are insufficient and pose an intolerable risk to aviation safety by increasing the chances of a mid-air collision at DCA,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference Tuesday.

Helicopters should be barred from a four-mile stretch over the Potomac River when flights are landing on Reagan National Airport’s Runway 33, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said as the NTSB unveiled “urgent safety recommendations” after the deadly mid-air collision in January.

The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board said not restricting helicopter traffic around Reagan National was “stronger than an oversight.”

The National Transportation Safety Board will announce on Tuesday it is making an urgent safety recommendation to prevent helicopter operations when two runways are being used at Washington Reagan National Airport following a mid-air collision in January that killed 67 people,