Originally Posted by
Mileometer
The question was about why a unit of that sort should be in that airspace in the first place and not if they had the experience to fly in it. Presumably there's a good reason, but given how overworked we're told ATC is, it would be interesting to know why an aircraft whose only apparent reason for being in the air is to give the pilot some flying time, is flying around a busy airport and crossing/flying near flight paths used to land at that airport. To a lay person like me, that seems like asking for trouble.
I think you misread my answer... how might one gain experience in flying in a certain area?
The nature of DCA is that flight paths intersect other traffic. It does not seem wise to only have helicopter pilots fly in those unique circumstances for the for the first time when carrying VIPs.
Even if you were to argue that the helicopter traffic and flight approaches shouldn't be in the same spot, there are many who have already argued that there shouldn't be (as many?) commercial aviation landings in that airspace, but Congress in their wisdom keeps adding more.