A top Federal Aviation Administration official testified on Wednesday that a Pentagon-maintained hotline providing communication between the Pentagon and air traffic controllers at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., has not been operational since March of 2022.
During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) asked Federal Aviation Administration Deputy Chief Operating Officer Franklin McIntosh, “Is it true that the hotline, the direct line between the Pentagon, air traffic control, and the DCA tower, has been inoperable since March of 2022?” In response, McIntosh said, “Yes, sir, that is correct.”
Asked who maintains the hotline between the Pentagon and air traffic controllers at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, McIntosh said, “I believe the DOD maintains that hotline, but I think the next question would be, ‘Why were we not aware of it and insist upon it being fixed?”
The Daily Caller reported that Federal Aviation Administration officials discovered the issue with the communication hotline after two commercial airplanes were forced to abort landings due to an Army Black Hawk that was flying near the Pentagon on May 2.
According to The Daily Caller, the U.S. Army issued a temporary suspension for helicopter flights near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following the incident. The outlet also noted that the May 2 incident prompted investigations by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
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CNN reported that McIntosh testified on Wednesday that military flights to the Pentagon remain suspended until the communication hotline is restored. According to CNN, the Federal Aviation Administration had considered revoking its flight agreement with the U.S. military prior to the military’s decision to temporarily suspend flights to the Pentagon.
“We were ready to deploy any option available that we could use or have that we felt was necessary to bring safety measures and better behaviors from the DOD,” McIntosh told the Senate committee.
During Wednesday’s testimony in front of the Senate Commerce Committee, McIntosh highlighted the importance of fixing the communication hotline between the Pentagon and air traffic controllers at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. “We’re insisting on that line to be fixed before we resume any operations out of the Pentagon,” McIntosh stated.
McIntosh’s testimony comes after an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines plane in mid-air near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in January, leaving 67 people dead.
