Counter-drone testing performed by the Secret Service and US Navy reportedly triggered faulty traffic warnings for commercial aircraft on approach to Washington, DC’s Ronald Reagan National airport, congressional testimony revealed on 27 March.
During an aviation safety hearing on Capitol Hill following the 29 January mid-air collision between a commercial jet and military helicopter at the same airport, Republican senator Ted Cruz, chair of the commerce, science and transportation committee, said it was “very disturbing” that a testing programme had interfered with passenger flights at Reagan National on 1 March.
Cruz describes multiple reports of airline pilots receiving warnings from their traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) on approach to the airport.
The warnings “advised pilots of an impending threat from above, in some case directing the crews to take evasive action by descending”, he says. “I think we were all alarmed that, just a few weeks after the tragedy, commercial pilots were being told that they were at imminent risk of a deadly mid-air collision.”
Cruz asserts that the Secret Service and the US Navy had been ”improperly testing counter-drone technology” at Reagan National on the day of the incidents.
“Apparently, the navy was using the same spectrum band as TCAS, causing the interference and faulty resolution advisories – even though the FAA had previously warned the navy and the Secret Service against using that specific spectrum band due to interference risks,” Cruz says.
Cruz asked Chris Rocheleau, sitting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, whether that account of the 1 March incidents at Reagan National was accurate.
Rocheleau responded, “Yes, sir, that is correct.”
“It is deeply disturbing that just a month after 67 people died” that such testing had been allowed to occur, Cruz says. “I expect this committee to investigate precisely why that happened.”
The exchange occurred during a hearing on the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation into the 29 January accident involving a US Army Blackhawk helicopter colliding with a PSA Airlines MHIRJ CRJ700.
Both aircraft plunged into the ice-covered Potomac River, killing all crew and passengers. The accident has rocked the airline industry and prompted several operational changes at Reagan National.
After publishing a preliminary report on the accident earlier this month, the NTSB says its investigation is ongoing and has yet to determine a probable cause.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy testified on 27 March that a team of 40 accident investigators are seeking to finalise their report within one year, “barring unforeseen circumstances”.
