NTSB probing aborted landings at Washington Reagan National Airport prompted by nearby army helicopter
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the aborted landings of two commercial flights approaching Reagan National Airport on Thursday as a US Army Black Hawk helicopter was approaching the Pentagon nearby.
Helicopters near the airport have been under intense scrutiny since the January 29 midair collision of American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army helicopter from the same unit. The crash killed 67 people in total.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which is also investigating, said air traffic controllers instructed Delta flight 1671 and Republic 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' around 2:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Following the incident, the ranking Democrat who sits on the senate committee overseeing the FAA called on the agency and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, 'to give our airspace the security and safety attention it deserves.'
'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 DCA,' said Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington. 'This comes less than a week after this brigade resumed flights in the National Capital Region.'
The closest proximity of the first aircraft, Delta Flight 1671, and the helicopter was '0.89 miles and 400 feet,' according to information the FAA shared with Congress. The second flight, Republic 5825, came within '0.4 miles and 200 feet' of the helicopter.
'It appears the Blackhawk operation did not proceed directly to the Pentagon Heliport,' said a preliminary FAA report shared with members of Congress. 'Instead that took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport.'
The early FAA report says the helicopter was not in a restricted area put in place by the agency in the days after the January 29 midair collision.
The Black Hawk in question was part of the 12th Aviation Battalion out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the same unit involved in the crash over the Potomac.
CNN has reached out to the United States Army for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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