A U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter flying near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday forced two commercial airliners to abort landings, reigniting concerns just months after a deadly crash involving the same Army aviation brigade that killed 67 people, Politico reported.
The helicopter veered off its approved flight path Thursday near the airport, prompting two passenger jets to perform "go-around" maneuvers in a congested airspace still reeling from a deadly January crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice Friday regarding the incident, which occurred around 2:30 p.m. According to an internal FAA email obtained by Politico, the Black Hawk "took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport," leading air traffic controllers to call for two aircraft — a Delta Air Lines flight and a Republic Airways flight — to execute go-arounds.
Although go-arounds are common at the busy airport, FAA Assistant Administrator Chris Senn classified the event as a "loss of separation," violating minimum distance standards between aircraft in shared airspace.
"The aircraft were not within the restricted mixed traffic area," Senn wrote, though he confirmed the FAA is investigating whether the Army breached its flight approvals.
The incident comes amid ongoing scrutiny following the Jan. 29 crash between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a regional passenger jet that killed 67 people — the worst U.S. aviation disaster in more than 20 years.
Thursday's helicopter was from the same Army aviation brigade involved in the January crash, according to Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the Commerce Committee's ranking member.
"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," Cantwell said, calling on the Pentagon and FAA "to give our airspace the security and safety attention it deserves."
FAA officials confirmed the two commercial flights were on final approach when the Black Hawk's presence forced them to divert. The closest proximity between the Delta jet and the helicopter was under one mile horizontally and 400 feet vertically. When the Republic Airways flight approached, the gap tightened to approximately .4 miles and 200 feet.
Complicating matters, air traffic controllers briefly lost accurate tracking of the Black Hawk on radar. Senn wrote that the helicopter's radar signal "inadvertently floated and jumped to a different location on the controller feed after being unresponsive for a couple [of] seconds."
The Army was using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology, which transmits real-time aircraft data. ADS-B came under increased scrutiny after the January crash, when investigators said the broadcast system may have been turned off. At the time, Army policy required commander approval for ADS-B use during sensitive or classified missions.
Responding to inquiries, the Army acknowledged the incident and directed further questions to the Military District of Washington. In a broader statement related to the January crash, the Army said it "cautions against speculating about potential causes or contributing factors before the National Transportation Safety Board complete[s] its probe," which is expected to take at least a year.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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