Days after a scare in which two airliners were told to abort their landings at Reagan National Airport in Washington—site of a fatal midair crash in January—the Army announced its helicopter flights into the nearby Pentagon are being suspended. The order applies to a unit of Black Hawk helicopters based in Virginia charged with evacuating political leaders in an emergency, Politico reports. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who expressed outrage at the close call on Thursday, posted on X: "No more helicopter rides for VIPs or unnecessary training in a congested DCA airspace full of civilians. Take a taxi or Uber."
It was an Army Black Hawk on its way to the Pentagon last week that prompted air traffic controllers to divert two commercial jets about to land at National. WUSA reported that the Black Hawk was over the Pentagon's helipad when the order to the planes was given. A Federal Aviation Administration document said the helicopter had taken a "scenic route," per the Washington Post, though the Army later said it was adhering to published FAA flight routes. All landed safely. Duffy posted Friday that he had questions for the Defense Department about what happened. The congestion in the area has been an issue since the Jan. 29 collision of an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight that killed 67 people.
On Sunday, three planes were told to halt their efforts to land at National when a Park Police helicopter was dispatched after a vehicle overturned vehicle near the Key Bridge, per the Post. Some helicopter flight routes near the airport already have been shut down this year. National Transportation Safety Board investigators have said the limited separation between one of those routes and one of the airport's landing paths for planes posed an "intolerable risk to aviation safety." (More Ronald Reagan National Airport stories.)
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