Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blasted the Defense Department after an Army Black Hawk helicopter took a “scenic route” around Washington, D.C., which caused near misses with two commercial jetliners attempting to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, an Army Black Hawk helicopter allegedly had close calls with two commercial airliners.
‘Our helicopter restrictions around DCA are crystal clear.’
The Federal Aviation Administration said in an incident report, “Air traffic control instructed Delta Air Lines Flight 1671 and Republic Airways Flight 5825 to perform go-arounds at the Reagan Washington National Airport due to a Priority Air Transport helicopter inbound to the Pentagon Army Heliport.”
The Army Black Hawk helicopter “took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport,” according to an email obtained by Politico from Chris Senn, Federal Aviation Administration assistant administrator for government and industry affairs.
Both commercial airplanes were reportedly on their final approach.
The Black Hawk helicopter came within 200 feet of the Republic plane and within 400 feet of the Delta plane, according to Senn’s email.
Senn said air traffic controllers temporarily couldn’t pinpoint the Black Hawk’s tracking position in real time on their radar screens.
Senn noted that the helicopter’s radar track “inadvertently floated and jumped to a different location on the controller feed after being unresponsive for a couple of seconds.”
At the time of the incidents, the control tower had one supervisor, four certified professional controllers, and one certified professional trainee receiving on-the-job training, according to Senn.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation into the events. Delta said it was cooperating in the investigation.
Delta said there were five flight crew and 97 passengers aboard its commercial airliner.
“Nothing is more important at Delta than the safety of our customers and people. We’ll cooperate with the FAA as they investigate,” Delta said on Friday.
The U.S. Army said of the incident, “While conducting flight operations into the Pentagon, in accordance with published FAA flight routes and DCA Air Traffic Control, a UH-60 Blackhawk was directed by Pentagon Air Traffic Control to conduct a ‘go-around,’ overflying the Pentagon helipad, in accordance with approved flight procedures. As a result, DCA Air Traffic Control issued a ‘go-around’ to two civilian fixed-wing aircraft to ensure the appropriate deconfliction of airspace.”
The incidents were classified as a “loss of separation,” which is when aircraft violate the minimum vertical and/or horizontal distance required to safely avoid a mid-air collision in a controlled airspace.
The Pentagon did not immediately provide a comment when asked by Reuters.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy declared the actions by the chopper’s pilot were “unacceptable.”
“Our helicopter restrictions around DCA are crystal clear,” Duffy proclaimed on the X social media platform.
Duffy continued, “I’ll be talking to the Department of Defense to ask why the hell our rules were disregarded.”
“Safety must ALWAYS come first. We just lost 67 souls! No more helicopter rides for VIPs or unnecessary training in a congested DCA airspace full of civilians,” Duffy added. “Take a taxi or Uber — besides, most VIPs have black car service.”
Lawmakers from both political parties expressed concern over the incidents.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) stated, “The Army is once again putting the traveling public at risk. … It’s time for the FAA to act swiftly and assert control over the national airspace so the Army stops running air taxis for military officials near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.”
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said, “The Army and FAA need to reevaluate their operations and return to Capitol Hill to explain what needs to be done to make certain the DCA airspace is safe. We already had a tragedy that should not have happened.”
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) added, “It is outrageous that only three months after an Army Black Hawk helicopter tragically collided with a passenger jet, the same Army brigade again flew a helicopter too close to passenger jets on final approach at Reagan National Airport.”
Moran and Cantwell are referring to the air travel disaster that occurred in January when an American Airlines plane collided with an Army VH-60M Black Hawk. The air travel accident killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft.
The helicopter and plane collided while the chopper was conducting a training exercise.
As Blaze News reported last month, Captain Rebecca Lobach — the helicopter’s pilot — failed to heed her instructor’s orders moments before flying into the commercial airliner.
The mid-air collision caused the FAA to impose permanent restrictions on nonessential helicopter operations around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
In March, a Delta Air Lines plane nearly crashed into an Air Force jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere’s investigation unearthed several eyebrow-raising developments in how airports are using outdated technology, DEI practices that exclude the most qualified would-be air traffic controllers, and severely understaffed air traffic control towers.
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