Adapted by:
Miguel Jorge
WriterJournalist. I've spent more than half of my life writing about technology, science, and culture. Before landing here, I worked at Telefónica, Prisa, Globus Comunicación, Hipertextual, and Gizmodo. I'm part of Webedia's cross-section team.
Karen Alfaro
WriterCommunications professional with a decade of experience as a copywriter, proofreader, and editor. As a travel and science journalist, I've collaborated with several print and digital outlets around the world. I'm passionate about culture, music, food, history, and innovative technologies.
It was an unlikely scene. On Jan. 29, a phone camera recorded something that seemed unthinkable: In the middle of the night over Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, a military Black Hawk helicopter flew close enough to strike an American Airlines commercial airliner head-on. Sixty-seven people died, making it the deadliest U.S. plane crash since 2001. It has now been revealed the danger was even greater.
Deadline and silence. For more than three years, a direct and critical line of communication between air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport and the Pentagon heliport tower was completely inoperative—without the knowledge of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A senior FAA official confirmed the disconnect before the Senate. It only came to light after an incident on May 1, when two commercial aircraft aborted landings due to an Army helicopter circling over the Pentagon.
Managed by the Department of Defense, the line was disconnected in March 2022 and went unnoticed until after the incident. This alarming lack of coordination between the agencies responsible for America’s most restricted and sensitive airspace became known just months after the deadly crash involving the Black Hawk and American Airlines jet that killed 67 people.
Bureaucratic clashes ensued. The issue has sparked tensions between the FAA and the Department of Defense, with both sides blaming each other for safety violations. While the secretary of transportation cited military protocol breaches, the military claimed it followed all established restrictions. In the Senate, figures such as Tammy Duckworth—a former Black Hawk pilot—and Dan Sullivan expressed outrage at the lack of clear answers and institutional passivity.
The committee learned that airport controllers handled multiple duties simultaneously on the day of the January crash and during the recent May incident. This practice increases workload and reduces safety margins. Franklin McIntosh, FAA deputy director of air traffic, acknowledged the agency didn’t know the line was down and admitted it should have identified the issue much earlier.
A chain of failures. After the January crash, the FAA restricted helicopter routes near the airport. However, military, police, and medical flights have continued to operate, leading to more conflicts with commercial traffic. According to McIntosh, the FAA considered suspending the agreement that allows military helicopters to fly without prior authorization from the agency. But while the FAA reviewed its procedures, the Army preemptively suspended flights into the Pentagon.
The problem? The May incident showed that problems persist, and the Army continues operating on compromised routes without full coordination. The Army’s lack of transparency—citing the sensitive nature of its missions—has hindered oversight. Former National Transportation Safety Board and FAA investigators warn that such secrecy is no longer sustainable in an environment of heightened scrutiny.
Mistake after mistake. According to The Washington Post, the situation in the Washington area isn’t isolated. During the same hearing, the Senate addressed technical and staffing issues at Newark Airport, which has suffered extensive delays due to a shortage of air traffic controllers and unreliable technology. Despite the transportation secretary’s assurances that the aiport is safe, it came to light that he diverted his wife’s flight to LaGuardia—raising questions about confidence in the system.
But there’s more. According to Fortune, a commercial flight had to perform an evasive maneuver after coming dangerously close to four military fighter jets heading to a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. A coordination error between regional controllers and Reagan Tower caused the near collision. In fact, there have been at least 85 near-collisions in the same airspace in the three years leading up to the January crash—enough to have triggered institutional alarms long before.
A system under pressure. The prolonged disconnection of a critical line between two high-risk facilities, slow institutional responses, and fragmented command between civilian and military entities all point to a system under stress. Its cracks, made tragically visible by the January crash, could result in more deadly consequences if no urgent action is taken. The silent hotline between the Pentagon and Reagan Tower has become a symbol of a fractured chain of command through omission.
Not to mention, many U.S. media outlets have raised a broader concern: In an era of rising geopolitical tension, ordinary telephones are still relied on to prevent another air tragedy over the world’s most powerful capital.
Image | Izyan Sultanali (Unsplash)
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