US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Friday that it was “unacceptable” that two commercial aircraft had to abort landings at a Washington airport this week because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was flying to the Pentagon.
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In addition to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigating what happened on Thursday afternoon, Duffy said, he planned to talk to the Department of Defense to determine why rules were “disregarded”.
The incident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) involved a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170, according to the NTSB.
They were instructed at around 2.30pm by air traffic control to “perform go-arounds” because of a “priority air transport” helicopter, according to a statement from the FAA.
“Safety must ALWAYS come first,” Duffy posted on social media. “We just lost 67 souls! 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.”
Army spokesperson Captain Victoria Goldfedib said in a statement that the UH-60 Black Hawk was following published FAA flight routes and DCA Air Traffic Control when it was “directed by Pentagon Air Traffic Control to conduct a ‘go-around’, overflying the Pentagon helipad in accordance with approved flight procedures.”
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