Military suspends certain helicopter operations to Pentagon after two aborted landings at Ronald Reagan National Airport
Chopper flights near Pentagon halted: Army probes after helicopter close calls
What's going on with those helicopter flights to the Pentagon? They're on ice, mate, following some nerve-wracking close calls near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
An internal Army investigation is underway after a Black Hawk helicopter's encounter with two commercial planes, forcing them to abandon landings last week. The chopper was hovering above the Pentagon helipad, as instructed by air traffic controllers, at the same time.
Heather Chairez, an Army spokesperson, broke the news to CNN, stating the temporary halt of rotary wing operations into the Pentagon.
Remember the disaster back in January? The midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army helicopter from the same unit took 67 lives[6]. Now, it seems the same unit's Black Hawk came eerily close to passenger jets on final approach at DCA.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are conducting their probes alongside the Army's investigation. According to the FAA, air traffic controllers instructed Delta flight 1671 and Republic flight 5825 to execute a go-around at Reagan airport due to a Priority Air Transport helicopter bound for the Pentagon Army Heliport around 2:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Captain Victoria Goldfedib, another Army spokesperson, stated, "While flying operations into the Pentagon in accordance with published FAA flight routes, a UH-60 Blackhawk initiated a ‘go-around’ after Pentagon Air Traffic Control denied landing clearance, overflying the Pentagon helipad while maintaining all approved flight procedures."
While the Black Hawk in question wasn't in a restricted area, planes at the airport are halted when necessary for military helicopters, leading to delays and re-routes. The incidents have sparked significant worries about safety, with Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington asking the FAA and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to reevaluate airspace safety[7].
Sen. Ted Cruz, head of the Senate Commerce Committee, has also pledged to push for legislation ensuring the flying public's safety from Army helicopter flights that pose risks to the airport.
It appears the Blackhawk hadn't made a direct route to the Pentagon Heliport. Instead, it took a scenic detour around the Pentagon. According to a preliminary FAA report, the helicopter wasn't in the banned airspace set up following the tragic January collision[8].
The Black Hawk in question belonged to the 12th Aviation Battalion based out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia - eerily resembling the unit involved in the January crash over the Potomac.
With clear skies, clear skies, and clear skies over busy and tightly controlled airspace, even a training mission couldn't prevent a midair collision in January[9]. Preliminary insights suggest the Black Hawk's altimeter might've been off, or the pilots didn't catch some control tower calls. This incident coincides with 15,214 near-miss events nationwide over the past few years, with a whopping 85 incidents involving less than 1,500 feet vertical separation[10].
Stay tuned for updates as investigations progress.
[1] https://www.cnn.com/…/pentagon-helicopter-flight-delay/index.html [2] https://www.military times.com/…/army-at-national-airports-helicopter-safety-investigations-pause-flights/ [3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/military-chopper-causes-commercial-flights-to-make-go-arounds-at-reagan-airport/ [4] https://apnews.com/…/us-news-virginia-airport-helicopter-9bd6c70ea4b7e88a0291be3f7c44937a [5] https://www.reuters.com/…/us-pentagon-helicopter-2021-10-02/ [6] https://www.cbc.ca/…/american-airlines-helicopter-midair-collision-1.5944288 [7] https://www.cnn.com/…/senators-demand-fa…/index.html [8] https://apnews.com/…/us-news-virginia-airport-helicopter-9bd6c70ea4b7e88a0291be3f7c44937a [9] https://www.cnn.com/…/pentagon-helicopter-blackhawk-national-transportation-safety-board/index.html [10] https://www.npr.org/…/near-misses-are-more-common-than-you-think-study-finds [11] https://www.forbes.com/…/pentagon-helicopter-flights-on-hold-as-investigation-laun…/ [12] https://www.nbcwashington.com/…/pentagon-helicopter-create-scare-near-reagan-nat…/2388503/
- The Army's investigation has focused on the encounter between a Black Hawk helicopter and two commercial planes, which resulted in the commercial planes having to abandon their landings, as the Black Hawk was hovering over the Pentagon helipad at the same time.
- The encounter between the helicopter and the commercial planes occurred at a critical time near the Potomac, near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which has raised concerns about the safety of helicopter flights in the area.
- The National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Army are all conducting investigations into the incident, with concerns about heightened risks of midair collisions in the busy and tightly controlled airspace over the Potomac.
- The Black Hawk in question appears to have taken a detour around the Pentagon, instead of making a direct route to the Pentagon Heliport, and while it wasn't in a restricted area, its presence has caused delays and re-routes for planes at Reagan Airport.
