Army pauses helicopter training flights around Pentagon after 2 disruptions to commercial flights last week
The Army has paused all helicopter training flights around the Pentagon near Washington after disruptions to two commercial flights last Thursday.
A senior Army spokesperson confirmed the pause to Fox News on Monday, noting it was implemented pending the investigation into last week's decision by Reagan National Airport (DCA) to divert two flights after an Army helicopter on a training mission was told by the Pentagon tower to make another loop around the Pentagon before landing.
At about 2:30 p.m. that day, air traffic control instructed a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170 to perform "go-arounds" at DCA due to an Army Black Hawk helicopter inbound to the Pentagon Army Heliport, according to statements from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The FAA said the Black Hawk was a priority air transport helicopter.
The aircraft "took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport," prompting controllers to call for two go-arounds, Politico reported, citing an email written Friday by Chris Senn, FAA's assistant administrator for government and industry affairs.
Army officials, though, took issue with the statement from the FAA suggesting that the helicopter "took a scenic route."
Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, confirmed the Black Hawk helicopter came from the same Army Aviation brigade as the helicopter involved in the deadly Jan. 29 midair collision over the Potomac River.
But Army officials said the helicopter was not flying the same route. Defense officials said the helicopter last week did an overhead loop over the Pentagon at the accepted parameters set by the FAA before landing on the Pentagon helipad.
There is also growing frustration at the Pentagon with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over how the situation was handled.
"Our helicopter restrictions around DCA are crystal clear," Duffy wrote on X Friday. "In addition to investigations from @NTSB and @FAANews, I'll be talking to the @DeptofDefense 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. Take a taxi or Uber – besides most VIPs have black car service," he continued.Several defense officials said they felt blindsided by Duffy's tweet, adding they wished Duffy had called and spoken with someone at the Pentagon before tweeting.
No military VIPs were onboard the military training flight.
Thursday's disruptions come less than one month after the FAA increased staffing and oversight for the DCA air traffic control team.
In March, the FAA announced that it would permanently restrict "nonessential" helicopter operations around the airport and eliminate helicopter and fixed-wing mixed traffic.
The agency also prohibited the simultaneous use of runways 15/33 and 4/22 when helicopters that are conducting urgent missions are operating near DCA.
It is unclear how the incident took place, given the new guidelines.
The airport's main runway is the busiest runway in America, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
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