Fri, Jul 02, 2004
"Missed Signal" Caused Evacuation Of Capitol, Supreme Court
Building
The FAA says it's found the answer
in the wake of a huge air scare that forced the evacuation of the
US Capitol and the Supreme Court June 9th. Someone was asleep at
the switch.
Perhaps an explanation is in order. As Washington was preparing
for President Ronald Reagan's state funeral that day, an aircraft
without a transponder entered the Washington ADIZ. The King Air 200
was flying Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher to the somber
proceedings lost its transponder shortly after take-off from
Cincinnati-Kentucky International Airport on its way to Reagan
National. Even though the flight crew was talking to the FAA, the
agency says a civilian employee watching radar failed to pick up
the on-screen indicator telling him the transponder was
non-functional. He hit the panic button.
Jets were scrambled to intercept and loudspeaker announcements
at the Capitol warned Reagan mourners, "You have one minute to
impact!" The Capitol and the Supreme Court were evacuated before
the whole mess was sorted out.
"While it took no more than five to seven minutes to sort that
out, that was still time that this aircraft was speeding toward
Reagan National," said FAA spokesman Greg Martin.
Two things changed as a result of the lessons learned in that
fiasco, said Martin. First, the FAA will set up a direct radar feed
to the regional coordination center so everyone is looking at the
same picture. Second, no aircraft without a working transponder
will be allowed into the ADIZ -- no matter who's on board.
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