BREAKING: Sean Duffy FURIOUS that Army helicopter violated DCA rules

by The Right Scoop

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is furious that an Army helicopter disregarded restrictions and caused two passenger jets to change course.

First, here’s the news about the helicopter:

An Army helicopter flying in the D.C. airspace Thursday forced two commercial passenger jets inbound to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to perform go-around maneuvers — roughly three months after the airport was the site of the nation’s worst aviation fatality in more than two decades.

The Federal Aviation Administration sent out a notice about the incidents on Friday.

Reagan National airport has been in the spotlight ever since the catastrophic crash of an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a regional passenger jet killed 67 people in January and set off a wave of investigations.

According to the email written Friday by Chris Senn, FAA’s assistant administrator for government and industry affairs, obtained by POLITICO, the Army helicopter — also a Black Hawk — “took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport” on Thursday, prompting controllers to call for two go-arounds.

 
Sean Duffy responded to this on X and he said he’s going to be talking to the DOD on “why the hell our rules were disregarded”:

Unacceptable. 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.

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.

So glad he’s taking this so serious because this needs to stop before something else horrible happens again.


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