An Army general recently confirmed that military air traffic controllers temporarily lost communication with an Army helicopter. This incident caused two commercial flights to execute go-arounds to prevent potential collisions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), a site that witnessed a tragic midair collision in January resulting in 67 fatalities.

On May 1, a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170, both operating at DCA, were instructed to carry out go-arounds. This was due to the approach of a U.S. Army Black Hawk, designated as a Priority Air Transport helicopter, heading towards the Pentagon Army Heliport, as reported by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, the director of Army Aviation, revealed that the loss of contact with the Black Hawk helicopter for 20 seconds was because a temporary control tower antenna was incorrectly positioned. This explanation was provided in a report by The Associated Press.

A barge carrying a crane moves parts of the wreckage from the Potomac River in the aftermath of a collision between American Eagle Flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the river near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, Feb. 5, 2025. (Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)

the previous administration’s transfer of airspace control from New York to Philadelphia.