US Capitol evacuated due to possible aircraft threat | Hacker News Reader

US Capitol evacuated due to possible aircraft threat

airlive.net

33 pointsbison324 comments

>UPDATE Police say ‘no threat’ at US Capitol after evacuation. Evacuation at the U.S. Capitol caused by U.S. Army team skydiving into stadium for the Washington Nationals.

Major evacuation because of adsb emitting plane?

No I doubt this.

https://apnews.com/article/mlb-sports-baseball-washington-na...

Army didn’t think to inform ATC of what they were up to?

According to the article they did.

So, the US Capitol didn't think to ask the ATC why there was a plane there, considering that's the purpose of the ATC? That seems even less likely.

My naive assumption is that one of the main purposes of these organizations, that we spend an incredible amount of money on, is to create, ready, and follow clear processes. What the heck are they doing with all that money/time? Does all this get reset with every election, or something?

>Army didn’t think to inform ATC of what they were up to?

Not only was ATC informed... you could go on public websites like adsb exchange and see exactly who the plane is.

Yep. Now I see that the House Speaker is criticizing the FAA for not informing the Capitol Police.

one way or another this is pretty weird. I don't suppose we'll get a full explanation, but it would certainly be interesting.

>one way or another this is pretty weird. I don't suppose we'll get a full explanation, but it would certainly be interesting.

Lets say this parachute team is the true story.

How jumpy are they to be calling for evacuation over something you can go on a website and check on?

That in of itself is a story.

The 9/11 hijacked planes were also emitting tracking signals. A military plane entering the Capitol exclusion zone unexpectedly might trigger an alert if they can't immediately figure out why it is there, in case it's being piloted by someone who has gone rogue.

According to the AP, at no time did this aircraft enter prohibited airspace[1].

    Radar tracking data shows the plane, a De Havilland Twin
    Otter, remained clear of the prohibited airspace over the
    Capitol Building and other government complexes at all
    times.

[1] https://apnews.com/article/mlb-sports-baseball-washington-na...

That can't be true.

https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_1_1155.html

The prohibted space is surface to 18,000 feet and stretched well beyond washington dc. I saw the circling, the plane absolutely would have entered prohibited airspace if not been inside of it the entire time.

Mind you... you just need to get approval from ATC and you can fly into that space. They without a doubt had that permission.

I think you're misunderstanding the NOTAM. It's a Flight Restricted area that's 30NM around DC, but it's not prohibited. Prohibited is only right around the actual capitol, and can be seen clearly marked as "Prohibited" on the charts[1].

Inside the Restricted area, VFR aircraft flying up to FL180 are restricted to 180Kts indicated airspeed, and from 30-60NM restricted to 230Kts indicated. You are also required to be in contact with ATC before entering this airspace.

So... no, the aircraft violated no rules/regulations at any time. Seems to be an overly jumpy US Capitol detail that didn't think to contact the relevant authorities before evacuating everyone... which is strange to say the least.

[1] https://aeronav.faa.gov/visual/03-24-2022/PDFs/Washington.pd...

There is no "US capitol exclusion zone" as such. Instead, there are two things:

• A number of Prohibited Areas, of which P-56 is the one covering the capitol. That is the "prohibited airspace" that the plane avoided.

• The Flight-Restricted Zone that extends 15 miles around Washington National Airport (DCA).

If you go to http://vfrmap.com, search for "KDCA", and switch the drop-down menu to "Sectionals", you'll see where the stadium is relative to P-56. See also https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/restricted-airspace-0

Though in this case, I believe both DCA Tower and Approach were aware of this operation, and so the pilots are OK, just the Capitol Police didn't get the word. I'm certain they have radar (or at least a radar feed), and so would have been justifiably concerned.

Ah yes. The joys of Total Information Awareness.

You require prople of a calibre capable of processing said situation and knowing exactly who to call, when, and what to ask.

Apparently, DC didn't have that.

This is some Hollywood movie plot. :D

>UPDATE Police say ‘no threat’ at US Capitol after evacuation. Evacuation at the U.S. Capitol caused by U.S. Army team skydiving into stadium for the Washington Nationals.

You mean like a comedy?

Tragi-comedy even!

straight from The Tomorrow War (dont watch, terrible movie) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R-V1hoIQwE

Update: false alarm.

https://twitter.com/CapitolPolice/status/1516911625709801472

TLDR: one part of the US government didn't bother to inform another part of the US government what was going on.

Reminds me of the Hawaii nuclear launch alert in 2018[0]

0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Hawaii_false_missile_aler...

They informed the ATC. One would assume that's the ideal mediary for this sort of thing.

Jumpers to ATC: "Hey, we're going here to jump here."

Capitol to ATC: "Hey, who's that and where are they going?"

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