Donald Trump’s proposed 250ft triumphal arch in Washington will need a permanent flame and powerful lighting to ensure aircraft can safely pass the structure, the Federal Aviation Administration has said.
The FAA’s hazard assessment found the arch could be safe for air travel, provided the recommended measures are followed. The structure is planned less than a mile from Ronald Reagan National Airport, along a flight path in one of the country’s busiest airspaces.
The agency said the arch should be marked and lit with a “nonstandard eternal flame”, while searchlight projectors should continuously illuminate it from at least three equally spaced positions around its base.
The recommendation represents a change from the FAA’s earlier advice. In June, evaluators had proposed red flashing obstruction lights, similar to those on the Washington Monument, as a standard warning for tall structures near airports.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump arch plans face further approval
Mr Trump has proposed placing the arch between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. He has said it should be taller than Paris’s Arc de Triomphe and would mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, while also describing it as a monument to himself.
The FAA assessment moves the project forward, but the arch has not received final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, which oversees building projects on federally owned land in Washington.
Mr Trump last month appointed Mark Paoletta, a lawyer in his administration and a close associate of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to lead the commission reviewing the proposal.
A group of Vietnam War veterans is suing to block construction, arguing that the project lacks congressional approval and would obstruct the view between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. A federal judge has ordered the administration not to begin major construction without notifying her first.
Opponents have also said the proposed structure would disrupt the view of another eternal flame: the memorial at the gravesite of former president John F Kennedy in Arlington National Cemetery.
