DCA-DoD air traffic hotline disconnected

A hotline that provided direct communication between the Pentagon and the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has not functioned since March 2022, a Federal Aviation Administration official confirmed Wednesday.

The public acknowledgment came during a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee, when Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas asked FAA officials about the deadly January collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet that was approaching the airport for landing. Sixty-seven people were killed in that crash.

Franklin J. McIntosh, the FAA’s deputy chief operating officer, said the agency didn’t know at the time of the accident that the hotline wasn’t functioning.

Read more at NPR