An Army general recently confirmed that military air traffic controllers lost contact with an Army helicopter, prompting two commercial planes to perform go-arounds to avoid crashing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), where a midair collision in January killed 67 people.

On May 1, a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170 at DCA were told to perform go-arounds due to a U.S. Army Black Hawk Priority Air Transport helicopter inbound to the Pentagon Army Heliport, according to statements from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, director of Army Aviation, said a temporary control tower antenna placed in the wrong location caused military air traffic controllers to lose contact with the Black Hawk helicopter for 20 seconds, according to a report from The Associated Press.

A barge carrying a crane moves parts of the wreckage from the Potomac River in the aftermath of a collision between American Eagle Flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the river near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, Feb. 5, 2025. (Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)

the previous administration’s transfer of airspace control from New York to Philadelphia.