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Another Close Call Between Army Helicopter and Passenger Jets Near DCA -- Because Sight-Seeing?! [1]

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Date: 2025-05-03

So barely three months after a mid-air collision between an Army Blackhawk helicopter on a training flight along the Potomac and an American Eagle regional jetliner on final approach to Reagan-National Airport (DCA) killed all 67 people aboard both aircraft, and barely one week since the Army had been granted permission by the FAA to resume some helicopter flights in this highly restricted air space, we had yet another near miss Thursday afternoon between a helicopter from that same unit and not just one but two different airliners preparing to land at DCA! From the AP account:

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday that it is “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. … “Safety must ALWAYS come first,” Duffy said on the social platform X. “We just lost 67 souls! No more helicopter rides for VIPs or unnecessary training in a congested DCA airspace full of civilians… Thursday's incident involved a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170, according to the NTSB. They were instructed around 2:30 p.m. by air traffic control to “perform go-arounds” because of a “priority air transport” helicopter, according to an emailed statement from the FAA. The aircraft were not within the restricted mixed traffic area of Reagan National, the FAA told members of Congress in a separate memo seen by The Associated Press. The agency also said it appeared the helicopter “took a scenic route around the Pentagon” and didn't fly directly to the heliport.

The helicopter was flying from Ft. Belvoir near Mount Vernon north toward the

Pentagon, and should have taken the direct route that would have passed by to the west (on the left side in the photo) en route to its landing zone on the north side. Instead, it approached from the southeast and apparently made a complete circle around the Pentagon (for sight-seeing purposes??) before landing, which placed it in potential conflict with civilian airliners attempting to land at DCA and necessitated the two “go-around” orders by the air traffic controllers.

The FAA, which manages the nation’s airspace and oversees aviation safety, has come under criticism after the NTSB said there had been an alarming number of near misses in recent years in the congested skies around Reagan National. The closure of the helicopter route near the airport makes permanent the restrictions put in place after the Jan. 29 midair collision. The FAA order includes a few exceptions for helicopter use, including presidential flights along with law enforcement and lifesaving missions. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said on X that Thursday's incident showcased the danger that can come with Army helicopters flying close to the airport. “Thank God there was a decisive response from air traffic controllers and pilots, or else these two close calls could have resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives,” he said. Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the ranking member of the committee, which oversees the FAA, said the helicopter came from the same Army brigade involved in the January crash and took place less than a week after the brigade resumed flights in the area around the capital. “It is far past time" for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the FAA to “give our airspace the security and safety attention it deserves,” she said.

Meanwhile, from WaPo:

The Army said in a statement late Friday that it was operating in accordance with FAA flight routes. The Army said it “remains committed to aviation safety and conducting flight operations within all approved guidelines and procedures.” But Friday evening, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said he would be seeking answers from the Defense Department about “why the hell our rules were disregarded.” ... The first jet to abort its landing was a Delta Air Lines flight carrying 97 passengers and five crew from Orlando. As it headed south down the Potomac River, the Army helicopter was inbound to the Pentagon’s landing spot, tracking data from Flightradar24 shows. An air traffic controller noticed that two aircraft were getting close and instructed the airliner to cancel its landing attempt, according to the FAA summary. Then, as a Republic Airways flight was approaching, the helicopter’s radar track jumped to a new location after being unresponsive for a couple of seconds, according to the summary. The Republic flight came within half a mile of the helicopter, which was 200 feet below. That jet was also told to abandon its landing attempt. The summary says the FAA is investigating the issue with the radar. The Jan. 29 crash killed 64 people on the American flight and three Army crew members. The FAA quickly closed part of a helicopter route along the Potomac after the crash and put in place new procedures designed to separate airliners and helicopters in the area. The agency also imposed new requirements that the military broadcast the location of helicopters using a satellite-based system called ADS-B.

So now it seems the vaunted ADS-B helicopter tracking system is prone to potentially fatal glitches as well?

The NTSB investigation into the crash is ongoing, but the board found that helicopters and airliners regularly came into close proximity with airliners. Investigators said tight spacing between a helicopter route and a landing path to one of the runways at National posed an “intolerable risk to aviation safety.” Tim Lilley, a former military helicopter pilot whose son died while piloting the American Airlines flight on Jan. 29, said he was frustrated to learn the Defense Department was still sending aircraft through a “choke point” at DCA that put them in close proximity to commercial planes. “This is such a dangerous situation,” he said, “It’s obvious.”

One would certainly think so. And then compounding the whole problem of air traffic safety is the mess Musk and his DOGE team have made in the FAA with their mass layoffs, best exemplified by this report from CNN on the increasingly chaotic situation at the Newark airport:

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