 apologized late Friday for failing to give advance notice to US Capitol Police on a small plane that caused security fears earlier this week.){kind=link}
WASHINGTON, April 23 – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) apologized late Friday for failing to give advance notice to US Capitol Police on a small plane that caused security fears earlier this week.
A single-engine airplane flying a team of American Golden Knights soldiers displaying a parachute over a baseball game near the U.S. Capitol Wednesday was mistakenly considered a security breach.
“We did not give advance notice of this incident to US Capitol police,” the FAA said in a statement. “We sincerely apologize for any involvement in the demolition of the Capitol building and apologize for the inconvenience and intimidation experienced by those working there.”
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday criticized the FAA’s “terrible and horrific mistake” by failing to raise awareness of Capitol Police on scheduled games at the Washington Nationals baseball stadium.
The FAA said on Wednesday “it is taking immediate steps to ensure that we continue to liaise in advance with other agencies to avoid confusion over future aviation events in the Washington, D.C. area.”
The FAA review continues, adding, promising to “take any necessary steps to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.”
U.S. Capitol police Wednesday said they were tracking down a “potentially dangerous” plane at the Capitol facility, but minutes later said there was no threat.
The Golden Knights crashed into a parachute on the Washington Nationals baseball pitch, Nationals Park, a little over a mile from the U.S. Capitol.
Pelosi said on Wednesday Congress would review what went wrong. Pelosi’s office did not immediately comment by the end of Friday. He said Congress wanted to know who in the FAA “would be held accountable for this terrible and horrible mistake.”
Capitol police sent an email to congressional staff Wednesday that had seen “we would be working with our counterparts on the air to address notification issues.”