FAA meeting with Pentagon officials as agency considers new restrictions on military helicopter flights near DCA
'Everything's on the table right now,' FAA Deputy Chief Operating Officer Franklin McIntosh told a hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. McIntosh said that the FAA is now reviewing helicopter flights transporting military officials on non-emergency missions and is discussing 'possible restrictions' with the Department of Defense.
The new moves follow the closure of the helicopter route that was in use at the time of the January 29 midair collision of a US Army Blackhawk helicopter on a training flight and a landing American Airlines regional flight, killing 67 people. On May 1, a helicopter from the same Army unit landing at the Pentagon caused air traffic controllers to order 'immediate go-arounds' for two nearby commercial flights.
The FAA revealed in a congressional hearing Wednesday the 'hotline' between air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the Pentagon, intended to coordinate aircraft, has not worked since March 2022.
After he was grilled by a Senate committee Wednesday, McIntosh insisted to Thursday's House committee hearing that the hotline will be repaired.
'That allows for immediate notification to the controllers,' McIntosh said. 'The issue really is making sure that that hotline is fixed.'
The FAA was not aware the direct line was broken until a May 1 incident where a helicopter circled the Pentagon and caused two flights to abort landings, McIntosh testified Wednesday.
Military flights to the Pentagon have been suspended since the incident and will not resume until the hotline is fixed, McIntosh said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump, Carney to speak soon, Canadian official says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will likely talk "over the next number of days" after the U.S. imposed a 35% tariff on goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, a Canadian official said on Sunday. Dominic LeBlanc, the federal cabinet minister in charge of U.S.-Canada trade, told CBS News' "Face the Nation" that he believes there is an option of striking a deal that will bring down tariffs. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's Former Jobs Data Chief Decries Firing of Successor
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump's firing of the chief labor statistician was criticized by her predecessor, who called it an unfounded move that will undermine confidence in a key data set on the US economy. We Should All Be Biking Along the Beach Seeking Relief From Heat and Smog, Cities Follow the Wind Chicago Curbs Hiring, Travel to Tackle $1 Billion Budget Hole NYC Mayor Adams Gives Bally's Bronx Casino Plan a Second Chance 'This is damaging,' William Beach, whom Trump picked in his first term to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. Trump on Friday fired Erika McEntarfer hours after labor market data showed weak jobs growth based in part on steep downward revisions for May and June. The move by Trump, who claimed the latest monthly report was 'phony,' prompted an outcry from economists and lawmakers. 'I don't know that there's any grounds at all for this firing,' said Beach, whom McEntarfer replaced in January 2024. 'And it really hurts the statistical system. It undermines credibility in BLS.' Studies indicate that the agency's data is more accurate than 20 or 30 years ago, including any revisions of the initial data, Beach said. Even so, he said he'll trust future BLS data because people working for the agency are 'some of the most loyal Americans you can imagine,' making the bureau 'the finest statistical agency in the entire world.' Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, speaking Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation, urged the US government to improve its data collection to avoid revisions that engender distrust. 'We watch what consumers really do. We watch what businesses really do,' Moynihan said, while not addressing the politics of the firing. 'They can get this data, I think, other ways, and I think that's where the focus would be.' He noted the revision for May and June data, while not unusual, was one of the largest in seven years. 'That creates doubt around it,' he said. 'Let's spend some money. Let's bring the information together. Let's find where else in the government money is reported.' McEntarfer was confirmed by the Senate in a bipartisan 86-8 vote. Vice President JD Vance, then a senator, voted to approve her nomination. Kevin Hassett, Trump's chief economic adviser at the White House, alleged that the large jobs data revisions were poorly explained and were evidence enough for a 'fresh set of eyes' at BLS. He sought to contradict Beach's portrayal of the agency as politically neutral. 'The bottom line is that there were people involved in creating these numbers,' Hassett said on NBC's Meet the Press. Pressed on whether Trump would fire anyone offering data he disagreed with, Hassett, who heads the National Economic Council, disagreed. 'No, absolutely not,' he said. 'The president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers, they're more transparent and more reliable.' (Updates with Moynihan comments beginning in sixth paragraph.) How Podcast-Obsessed Tech Investors Made a New Media Industry Everyone Loves to Hate Wind Power. Scotland Found a Way to Make It Pay Off Russia Builds a New Web Around Kremlin's Handpicked Super App Cage-Free Eggs Are Booming in the US, Despite Cost and Trump's Efforts What's Really Behind Those Rosy GDP Numbers? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
CNN
26 minutes ago
- CNN
‘The climate has always been changing': EPA chief defends push to roll back climate regulations
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin joins CNN's Kasie Hunt to discuss the Trump administration's push to reverse a landmark scientific finding that planet-warming pollution harms human health.
