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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 FAA says it is working to update technology after the DCA crash that claimed 67 lives. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
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.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Landon Mion, Grady Trimble and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
