Federal transportation officials are investigating after a Delta Air Lines flight and Republic Airways flight headed to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport had to divert to avoid a helicopter.
At around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Delta Air Lines flight 1671 arriving from Orlando International Airport and Republic Airways flight 5825 arriving from Boston Logan International Airport were asked to perform “go-around” maneuvers because a Priority Air Transport helicopter was headed for the Pentagon Army Heliport, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
“Go-arounds” are routine maneuvers in which a pilot aborts a landing and then circles back in order to re-enter the landing queue. The incident comes just months after a collision between a U.S. Army helicopter and a domestic flight trying to land at Reagan National killed all 67 people aboard both aircraft.
After the Jan. 29 incident, the FAA implemented new airspace rules restricting the simultaneous flight of planes and helicopters in the same Reagan National airspace.
The FAA told members of Congress that the Army helicopter did not violate the newly-restricted space but that it also “took a scenic route around the Pentagon” instead of going directly to the heliport, according to The Associated Press.
The helicopter, a Black Hawk, is part of the 12th Aviation Battalion out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The Black Hawk helicopter involved in the Jan. 29 collision was also part of the battalion, according to CNN.
The Army told Reuters that the helicopter was following the proper FAA routes when “directed by Pentagon Air Traffic Control to conduct a ‘go-around,’ overflying the Pentagon helipad in accordance with approved flight procedures,” which then prompted the Reagan National controllers to order the go-arounds by the two planes.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, however, contends that rules were broken.
“Unacceptable. Our helicopter restrictions around DCA are crystal clear. … 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,” Mr. Duffy wrote on X.
Congressional leaders were also appalled.
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican and chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, wrote on X “Just days after military flights resumed in the National Capital Region, the Army is once again putting the traveling public at risk. …I believe 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. Maria Cantwell, Washington Democrat and ranking Democrat member on the committee, said that “it is far past time,” for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the FAA to “give our airspace the security and safety attention it deserves,” according to the AP.
Spokespersons for both Delta Air Lines and Republic Airways told the AP that they were cooperating with the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board investigations. Delta told Reuters that there were five crew members and 97 passengers aboard flight 1671.
