Transportation boss Sean Duffy calls aborted landings near DC airport as unacceptable

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.In addition to the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration investigating what happened Thursday afternoon at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Duffy said he plans to talk to the Department of Defense to determine why rules were “disregarded.”The aborted landings follow a deadly midair collision in January between a passenger jet and Army helicopter in Washington that killed 67 people.

In March, the FAA announced that helicopters would be permanently restricted from flying near Reagan National on the same route where the collision occurred.“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.

Take a taxi or Uber — besides most VIPs have black car service.”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.Army spokesperson Capt.

Victoria Goldfedib said in a statement that the UH-60 Blackhawk was following published FAA flight routes and air traffic control from Reagan National when it was “directed by Pentagon Air Traffic Control to conduct a ‘go-around,’ overflying the Pen...