Duffy Rebukes Pentagon After Army Helicopter Flies Too Close to Passenger Jets at DC Area Airport

Two commercial jets were forced to abort landings at Reagan National after an Army helicopter entered their approach path, triggering a federal investigation.

Transportation secretary Sean Duffy speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 9, 2025. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sharply rebuked the Pentagon on Friday after an Army Black Hawk helicopter flew dangerously close to two commercial airliners at Reagan National Airport (DCA), forcing both to abort landings in what federal authorities are investigating as a “loss of separation” event.

“Unacceptable,” Duffy wrote on social media. “Our helicopter restrictions around DCA are crystal clear … I’ll be talking to the Department of Defense to ask why the [expletive] our rules were disregarded.”

The incident took place on May 1 at around 2:30 p.m. local time when Delta Air Lines Flight 1671 from Orlando and Republic Airways Flight 5825 from Boston were on final approach to Reagan National Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The agency said in a statement that air traffic controllers had to instruct both flights to perform go-arounds to avoid the helicopter, which was carrying out “priority air transport.” No injuries were reported in the incident, which is under investigation by both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Duffy, who has made airspace safety a key priority during his tenure, warned that safety protocols must be enforced without exception.

“Safety must ALWAYS come first,“ he wrote. ”We just lost 67 souls! No more helicopter rides for VIPs or unnecessary training in a congested DCA airspace full of civilians. Take a taxi or Uber—besides most VIPs have black car service.”

Duffy’s reference to the loss of 67 lives alluded to the Jan. 29 mid-air collision between an Army Black Hawk and a regional passenger jet in the same airspace, the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in over two decades. That incident prompted a sweeping review of helicopter operations in the Washington area and a suspension of military flights by the Army brigade involved. That same unit resumed flights less than a week before Thursday’s incident.

“It is outrageous that only three months after an Army Black Hawk helicopter tragically collided with a passenger jet, the same Army brigade again flew a helicopter too close to passenger jets on final approach at DCA,” Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) told media outlets in a statement. “This comes less than a week after this brigade resumed flights in the National Capital Region. It is far past time for [Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth and the FAA to give our airspace the security and safety attention it deserves.”

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle had words of criticism over the incident.

“Just days after military flights resumed in the National Capital Region, the Army is once again putting the traveling public at risk,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote in a post on X.

“Thank God there was a decisive response from air traffic controllers and pilots, or else these two close calls could have resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives. I believe it’s time for the FAA to act swiftly and assert control over the national airspace so the Army stops running air taxis for military officials near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Pentagon with a request for comment on Duffy’s remarks.