Two commercial flights were diverted from a DC airport over Black Hawk collision fears this month, in a chilling echo of the deadly crash involving the same type of military helicopter in January, the US Army has revealed.
The passenger flights had to abort landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on May 1 due to a glitch in communications between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and Pentagon air traffic controllers.
‘An issue with sequencing of air traffic by DCA Tower’ prompted controllers to divert the jets while also asking the Black Hawk to hover overhead to delay its path towards the Pentagon helipad, according to an Army statement released on Friday.
‘DCA ATC directed go-arounds for two commercial aircraft—Delta 1671 and RPA 5825—out of an apparent abundance of caution,’ a spokesman said.
‘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 second occurred during PAT 23’s subsequent traffic pattern and was based on conflicting positional data from legacy tracking systems.’
Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, director of Army Aviation, said the department is working closely with the FAA to ‘update procedures prior to resuming Pentagon flight operations in support of national security missions’.
Delta flight DL5825, from Boston, operated by a Republic Airways Embraer EMB-170, was on final approach, descending through around 450 feet, when the crew was instructed to go around.
Immediately following them was Delta flight DL1671, from Orlando, flown by an Airbus A319.
The aircraft was also on final approach and descending through around 700 feet when its crew was also instructed to go around.
The proximity was chilling with as little as 0.4 miles horizontally and just 200 feet vertically between one of the commercial jets and the Black Hawk, according to an FAA email obtained by Politico.
Both planes were on final approach when air traffic controllers ordered them to abort their landings around 2:30pm at the crowded Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C.
‘The helicopter took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport,’ FAA official Chris Senn wrote in an internal memo.
He classified the event as a ‘loss of separation,’ an official term for a breach of the minimum distance required between aircraft – and a potentially catastrophic safety violation.
The Federal Aviation Administration released a formal statement confirming the close call and said that it had launched a full investigation.
‘Air traffic control instructed Delta Air Lines Flight 1671 and Republic Airways Flight 5825 to perform go-arounds at the Reagan Washington National Airport due to a Priority Air Transport helicopter inbound to the Pentagon Army Heliport.’
The National Transportation Safety Board also issued its own terse update.
‘NTSB investigating Thursday’s incidents at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in which a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170 were instructed by air traffic control to perform go-arounds due to a US Army Black Hawk helicopter inbound to the Pentagon.’
It comes months after a Black Hawk helicopter struck an American Airlines passenger plane earlier this year, resulting in the deaths of 67 people.
Flight 5342, which departed from Wichita, Kansas, was landing at Ronald Reagan International Airport in DC when it collided with the Sikorksy H-60 Black Hawk helicopter mid-air over the Potomac River at 8.48pm on January 29.
The tragedy marked the first major US commercial passenger flight crash in almost 16 years since the Colgan Air Flight 3407 in 2009. It was also the deadliest US air disaster since the American Airlines Flight 587 crash in 2001.
Both aircraft were in communications with air traffic control before they collided.