WASHINGTON — A hotline connecting the Pentagon with air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has been “inoperable” since March 2022, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) official revealed during a stunning Wednesday hearing on Capitol Hill.
The downed line was only noticed after a tragic mid-air collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and a regional passenger plane killed 67 people over the Potomac River in late January, FAA Air Traffic Organization deputy COO Franklin McIntosh told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
McIntosh claimed to panel chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that the Defense Department was supposed to “maintain” the direct line, but never told air traffic controllers that it was down.
“We were not aware — but we became aware after that event,” McIntosh told Cruz. “And now that we became aware of that event we’re insisting upon that line to be fixed before we resume any operations out of the Pentagon.”
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