WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- White House officials on Monday were considering a limited re-opening of Ronald Reagan National Airport, just across the Potomac River from Washington.
The airport remains closed after the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon just a few miles from its runways.
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer called the airport "unique" because its proximity to the White House, Pentagon and other federal government buildings.
The airport has remained closed after suicide hijackers commandeered four commercial passenger airliners and crashed them into World Trade Center. A third plane was flown into the Pentagon, severely damaging the building. A fourth jet that authorities believe was intended for the White House or U.S. Capitol crashed in Pennsylvania.
Closure of the airport has thrown thousands of airline and related industry employees out of work and distressed the local economy.
White House officials say President Bush wants to see the airport reopened but security is a primary concern since most of the flights into and out of the facility come within a few miles of key government installations.
The flight that crashed into the Pentagon originated from the Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia, minutes away by air.
"The president would like us to get National Airport or Ronald Reagan Airport opened as quickly as we can," said White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card on Fox News Sunday. "But we have to be sensitive to the security concerns not only for the passengers who go through Ronald Reagan Airport, but also for the residents of Washington, D.C."
Card said he was optimistic that the right balance between security and economic opportunity could be found in reopening the airport.
"And we'll be striving hard to meet those challenges," Card said, adding that the question that remained was how quickly it would reopen and under what circumstances.
