(NewsNation) — The U.S. Army is instituting a pause of helicopter training flights in the vicinity of the Pentagon after two commercial flights Thursday were forced to abort landings at nearby Reagan National Airport after an Army helicopter deviated from its original flight plan.
“The Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion has paused training flights in and around the Pentagon. There are still some helicopters in the area,” an Army official tells NewsNation.
The investigation of the incident last week is ongoing, the official says.
The unit in recent days had begun gradually resuming flights after the January 29 midair collision of a battalion Army Black Hawk on a nighttime training mission with an American Airlines regional jet near the airport killed 67 people.
Members of Congress, aviation safety experts and local officials blasted the Army after that incident, calling for an investigation.