Where Pilots Are the Traffic Controllers ; Close to Hudson, Constant Vigilance Is Key

Summary

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Pilots of small airplanes have long flown beneath the radar and out of touch with air-traffic controllers along the Hudson River in New York City, where a plane and helicopter collided Saturday, killing nine.

Helicopters ferrying sightseers, news crews or executives share the airspace up to 1,100 feet with small planes in what is known as an "exclusion zone," or VFR -- visual flight rules -- corridor where pilots can use eyesight rather than instrumentation.

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Where Pilots Are the Traffic Controllers ; Close to Hudson, Constant Vigilance Is Key

Above that zone is what's known as Class B airspace, shared by thousands of commercial airliners taking off and landing at La ...

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