The Army has paused all helicopter training flights around the Pentagon near Washington after disruptions to two commercial flights last Thursday.
Fox News was told by a senior Army spokesperson on Monday that there is a pause in place pending an investigation into a recent incident. This decision was made after Reagan National Airport (DCA) diverted two flights because an Army helicopter on a training mission was instructed by the Pentagon tower to make an additional loop around the Pentagon before landing.
On that particular day around 2:30 p.m., a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170 were directed by air traffic control to perform “go-arounds” at DCA. This was due to an Army Black Hawk helicopter inbound to the Pentagon Army Heliport, as reported by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The FAA said the Black Hawk was a priority air transport helicopter.
The FAA says it is working to update technology after the DCA crash that claimed 67 lives. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Thursday’s disruptions come less than one month after the FAA increased staffing and oversight for the DCA air traffic control team.
In March, the FAA announced a permanent restriction on “nonessential” helicopter operations near the airport. They also declared the elimination of mixed traffic involving helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
The agency also prohibited the simultaneous use of runways 15/33 and 4/22 when helicopters that are conducting urgent missions are operating near DCA.
It is unclear how the incident took place, given the new guidelines.
The airport’s main runway is the busiest runway in America, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Landon Mion, Grady Trimble and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
