Reuters is reporting that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is calling for more restrictions on Army helicopter operations at Reagan National Airport after two airliners were ordered to go around last Thursday to keep separation from a Black Hawk en route to the Pentagon. “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,” Duffy said Friday. But the Army said it followed the rules on Thursday in what appeared to be a routine deconfliction for an unforeseen change in its operation.
“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,” the Army said in a statement to Reuters. “As a result, DCA Air Traffic Control issued a ‘go-around’ to two civil fixed wing aircraft to ensure the appropriate deconfliction of airspace.” The FAA announced new rules for helicopters after the Jan. 29 collision between a Black Hawk and an American Eagle flight that killed all 67 people on both aircraft. The new rules ban any unnecessary flights. Reuters said the Black Hawk crew was rehearsing an emergency evacuation. The NTSB and FAA are both looking into the go-arounds, which involved a Delta A319 coming from Orlando and a Republic Airways E170 from Boston.
After the Jan. 29 accident, the FAA shut down the helicopter route that the accident helicopter used and banned most helicopter flights near the airport when two smaller runways are in use, but it also said exceptions would be made based on the mission. Duffy wasn’t the only government official to suggest Thursday’s flight was unnecessary. “The Army is once again putting the traveling public at risk,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Reuters. “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, D-Wash., urged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to have a word with the Army. “This comes less than a week after this brigade resumed flights in the National Capital Region,” she told Reuters. “It is far past time for Secretary Hegseth and the FAA to give our airspace the security and safety attention it deserves,” she said.
