There are 13 heliports within Washington, D.C., the federal capital district of the United States, as of 2021. [1] [2] As of 2002, there are also 32 others in the Washington metropolitan area. [3] Of this total, 22 belong to hospitals, 12 to other corporations or private owners, 10 government, three military, and one public. [3]
No active facilities for fixed-wing aircraft exist within the geographically small and densely populated city. The district has not had any such facilities since 1962, when NAS Anacostia and Bolling AFB demolished their runways and abolished their seaplane base on the Potomac River. Airports associated with DC (such as Dulles, Reagan, or Baltimore/Washington) are instead located nearby in Virginia or Maryland.
The White House does not have its own heliport, but uses the South Lawn, with portable communications equipment brought out for Marine One arrivals and departures. [4]
Until 1996, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPDC) operated eight helicopters, including three MD-500s and five Bell OH-58s. [5] The MPDC had heliports in the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th police districts. [1] The helicopters were sold after budget cuts; the MPDC used National Park Service helicopters as needed. In 2001, the MPDC obtained a new Eurocopter AS350, [5] and flies it from the South Capitol Street Heliport at Buzzard Point. [6]
From 1998 until the September 11 attacks, Air Pegasus operated helicopter sightseeing and other transportation services out of the South Capitol Street Heliport, but the federal government has not allowed it to resume operations due to security concerns. [7] [8] [9] WTTG Fox-5 also used the heliport from 1999 to 2001, then moved its operations elsewhere. [6] On November 10, 2010, District of Columbia Congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton asked the TSA to allow the South Capitol Street Heliport to reopen for non-governmental use. [7]
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with Maryland to its north and east. It was named after George Washington, the first president of the United States. The district is named after Columbia, the female personification of the nation.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport in Crystal City, Virginia, United States, 5 miles (8.0 km) from Washington, D.C. It is the closest airport to Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, the 24th-busiest airport in the nation, the busiest airport in the Washington metropolitan area, and the second busiest in the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area.
A heliport, sometimes referred to as a vertiport, are small airports which has a helipad, suitable for use by helicopters, powered lift, and various types of vertical lift aircraft.
The United States Park Police (USPP) is the oldest uniformed federal law enforcement agency in the United States. It functions as a full-service law enforcement agency with responsibilities and jurisdiction in those National Park Service areas primarily located in the Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and New York City areas and certain other government lands. United States Park Police officers have jurisdictional authority in the surrounding metropolitan areas of the three cities it primarily operates in, meaning they possess both state and federal authority. In addition to performing the normal crime prevention, investigation, and apprehension functions of an urban police force, the Park Police are responsible for policing many of the famous monuments in the United States.
King County International Airport, commonly Boeing Field, is a public airport owned and operated by King County, 5 mi (8.0 km) south of downtown Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington. The airport is sometimes referred to as KCIA, but it is not the airport identifier. The airport has scheduled passenger service operated by Kenmore Air, a commuter air carrier, and was being served by JSX with regional jet flights. It is also a hub for UPS Airlines. It is also used by other cargo airlines and general aviation aircraft. The airfield is named for founder of Boeing, William E. Boeing, and was constructed in 1928, serving as the city's primary airport until the opening of Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in 1944. The airport's property is mostly in Seattle just south of Georgetown, with its southern tip extending into Tukwila. The airport covers 634 acres (257 ha), averages more than 180,000 operations annually, and has approximately 380 based aircraft.
An air defense identification zone (ADIZ) has existed since February 10, 2003, around the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area to restrict air traffic near Washington, D.C.
The Downtown Manhattan Heliport is a helicopter landing platform at Pier 6, on the East River, in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City.
The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known locally as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and, colloquially, DC Police, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Columbia, in the United States. With approximately 3,400 officers and 600 civilian staff, it is the sixth-largest municipal police department in the United States. The department serves an area of 68 square miles (180 km2) and a population of over 700,000 people. Established on August 6, 1861, the MPD is one of the oldest police departments in the United States. The MPD headquarters is at the Henry J. Daly Building, located on Indiana Avenue in Judiciary Square across the street from the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The department's mission is to "safeguard the District of Columbia and protect its residents and visitors with the highest regard for the sanctity of human life". The MPD's regulations are compiled in title 5, chapter 1 of the District of Columbia Code.
The history of Washington, D.C., is tied to its role as the capital of the United States. The site of the District of Columbia along the Potomac River was first selected by President George Washington. The city came under attack during the War of 1812 in an episode known as the Burning of Washington. Upon the government's return to the capital, it had to manage the reconstruction of numerous public buildings, including the White House and the United States Capitol. The McMillan Plan of 1901 helped restore and beautify the downtown core area, including establishing the National Mall, along with numerous monuments and museums.
Washington, D.C. is located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States at 38°53′42″N77°02′11″W, the coordinates of the Zero Milestone, on The Ellipse. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a geographical area of 68.3 square miles (176.9 km2), 61.4 square miles (159.0 km2) of which is land, and the remaining 6.9 square miles (17.9 km2) (10.16%) of which is water. The Anacostia River and the smaller Rock Creek flow into the Potomac River in Washington.
The 1971 May Day protests against the Vietnam War were a series of large-scale civil disobedience actions in Washington, D.C., protesting the United States' continuing involvement in the Vietnam War. The protests began on Monday morning, May 3 and ended on May 5. In all, more than 12,000 people were arrested, in what was the largest mass arrest in U.S. history.
Olympia Regional Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) south of the central business district of Olympia, a city in Thurston County and the capital of the U.S. state of Washington. It is owned by the Port of Olympia. It is about one mile (1.6 km) east of Interstate 5, actually within the boundaries of the city of Tumwater which is south of and adjacent to Olympia. The airport was identified in the Washington State Department of Transportation Long Term Aviation Study as a field that could potentially serve to relieve Seattle-Tacoma International Airport of increasing congestion.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is an independent airport authority, created with the consent of the United States Congress to oversee management, operations, and capital development of the two major airports serving the U.S. national capital: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport.
Washington, D.C. has a number of different modes of transportation available for use. Commuters have a major influence on travel patterns, with only 28% of people employed in Washington, D.C. commuting from within the city, whereas 33.5% commute from the nearby Maryland suburbs, 22.7% from Northern Virginia, and the rest from Washington, D.C.'s outlying suburbs.
The Smithsonian Institution Office of Protection Services, often referred to as the Smithsonian Police, is the guard and security police force of the Smithsonian Institution.
Washington, D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. Below is a list of Washington, D.C.-related articles.
The West 30th Street Heliport is a heliport on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Originally constructed by the Port of New York Authority in 1956, the facility has been operated by Air Pegasus since 1981. The heliport currently operates under a lease agreement with the Hudson River Park Trust.
Gail Adrienne Cobb was a Black American police officer from Washington, D.C., the first female police officer in the United States shot and killed in the line of duty. She was also the first uniformed female officer of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC) to have been killed in the line of duty.
The United States capital, Washington, D.C., has been the site of several events in the nation's history of aviation, beginning from the time of the American Civil War, often for the purpose of promoting the adoption of new aeronautical technologies by the government. It has also been home to several governmental and civilian aircraft manufacturers and aviation organizations, and several aerospace contractors.
Potomac Gardens, known to some of its residents as "The Gardens", is a housing project located at 1225 G Street SE, in Capitol Hill, Southeast, Washington, D.C., thirteen blocks to the southeast of the United States Capitol building.