Capitol Hill evacuated after plane flies too close without contact
Saturday, 03 Jan, 2011
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A pilot tuning into the wrong radio frequency to speak to air traffic controllers led to Washington’s US Capitol and surrounding government buildings being evacuated on Sunday.
Fighter jets were scrambled and the government workers were filed out of their workplaces as the plane flew through restricted airspace without being in contact with controllers.
The pilot of the Piedmont Airlines Flight 4352 originating in South Carolina had been speaking to one set of air traffic controllers during his flight to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport but during the handover to the next set had switched to the wrong radio frequency.
Piedmont is a subsidiary of US Airways Group.
Airport controllers could not communicate with the pilot and as the airport is just five miles from the heart of Washington’s government complex, North American Aerospace Defense Command scrambled its jets.
However, after a quarter of an hour, contact was re-established and the plane landed without incident.
by Dinah Hatch
Dinah
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