Army general confirms helicopter lost contact before Reagan airport go-arounds

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.

“It certainly led to confusion of air traffic control of where they were,” Braman told the AP.

The antenna, which was set up while a new control tower was being built, has since been relocated to the Pentagon rooftop, the outlet reported.

Chris Senn, the FAA’s assistant administrator for government and industry affairs, initially said in an email shared with Politico that the go-arounds could have been avoided had the Black Hawk traveled west to the heliport instead of taking “a scenic route.”

Army Public Affairs said in a statement its internal review found “no deviations from approved flight paths” and “no risk of intersecting air traffic.”

The Army claims its helicopter, which was not carrying any passengers, was continuously broadcasting via its Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) Out system throughout the flight, and the go-arounds were performed “out of an apparent abundance of caution.”

“The first go-around occurred before PAT 23 arrived at the Pentagon helipad and was the result of an issue with sequencing of air traffic by DCA Tower,” the Army said in the statement. “The second occurred during PAT 23’s subsequent traffic pattern and was based on conflicting positional data from legacy tracking systems.”

The close calls came less than one month after the FAA increased staffing and oversight for the DCA air traffic control team.

After the May 1 incident, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy expressed his frustration and emphasized the importance of safety in air travel.

“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,” Duffy wrote. “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.”

Duffy announced a plan to build a new “state-of-the-art” traffic control system that will equip locations with better technology to reduce outages, improve efficiency, and reinforce safety.

The NTSB said it is still investigating the May 1 incident, while the FAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In conclusion, the incident highlights the importance of clear communication and adherence to established flight paths to ensure the safety of all air traffic in congested airspace. Efforts are being made to improve air traffic control systems and procedures to prevent similar incidents in the future.