Army Halts Helicopter Training Flights Near Pentagon After Flight Disruptions
The United States Army has temporarily suspended all helicopter training flights in the vicinity of the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., following disruptions to two commercial flights that occurred last Thursday. The decision to pause the training flights was confirmed by a senior Army spokesperson on Monday, who stated that the suspension would remain in effect pending an investigation into the events of the previous week.
The incident prompting the suspension involved Reagan National Airport (DCA) diverting two commercial flights after an Army helicopter on a training mission was instructed by the Pentagon tower to circle the Pentagon once more before landing. According to statements released by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), at approximately 2:30 p.m. on that day, air traffic control directed a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170 to execute go-arounds at DCA due to the presence of an Army Black Hawk helicopter inbound to the Pentagon Army Heliport.
The FAA characterized the Black Hawk helicopter as a "priority air transport helicopter."
Reports indicate that the aircraft followed a "scenic route" around the Pentagon instead of proceeding directly from the west to the heliport, which led air traffic controllers to order the two go-arounds. This information was reportedly contained in an email written on Friday by Chris Senn, the FAA’s assistant administrator for government and industry affairs.
However, Army officials have disputed the FAA’s assertion that the helicopter took a "scenic route." Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, confirmed that the Black Hawk helicopter belonged to the same Army Aviation brigade as the helicopter involved in the fatal midair collision over the Potomac River on January 29.
Despite the connection to the earlier incident, Army officials emphasized that the helicopter involved in the recent disruption was not flying the same route as the one involved in the January collision. Defense officials stated that the helicopter last week performed an overhead loop over the Pentagon within the accepted parameters set by the FAA before landing on the Pentagon helipad.
The situation has also sparked frustration within the Pentagon regarding Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s handling of the matter. Duffy expressed his concerns on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, stating, "Our helicopter restrictions around DCA are crystal clear. In addition to investigations from @NTSB and @FAANews, I’ll be talking to the @DeptofDefense to ask why the hell our rules were disregarded. Safety must ALWAYS come first. 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."
Several defense officials reportedly felt blindsided by Duffy’s tweet and expressed their wish that he had contacted someone at the Pentagon before making his public statements.
Duffy addressed the issue further during an appearance on Fox News’ "The Ingraham Angle" on Monday night. He told host Laura Ingraham that he did not know who was on board the helicopter at the time of the incident. "The question becomes, who are the VIPs? Who are they? Is it a two-star, three-star general? There’s a lot of traffic going into the Pentagon," Duffy said. "The top brass at the White House – they take a Suburban or a Tesla or they take their own car. Who do these generals think they are, that they have to take helicopters to go to meetings?" Duffy also stated that he had not contacted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to inquire about the incident.
In response, multiple Army officials informed Fox News that no VIP or general officer was on board the helicopter and that it was a training flight with only pilots and a crew chief onboard.
The disruptions on Thursday occurred less than a 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 mixed traffic involving helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. The agency also prohibited the simultaneous use of runways 15/33 and 4/22 when helicopters conducting urgent missions were operating near DCA.
The precise circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear, particularly in light of the new guidelines implemented by the FAA.
Reagan National Airport’s main runway is reportedly the busiest runway in the United States, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
