US Capitol evacuated due to possible aircraft threat

Re:US Capitol evacuated due to possible aircraft threat by not2b on Wednesday April 20, 2022 @08:06PM (#31104633)

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.

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Re:US Capitol evacuated due to possible aircraft threat by Alupis on Wednesday April 20, 2022 @08:08PM (#31104648)

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...

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Re:US Capitol evacuated due to possible aircraft threat by incomingpain on Thursday April 21, 2022 @08:17AM (#31108459)

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.

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Re:US Capitol evacuated due to possible aircraft threat by Alupis on Friday April 22, 2022 @04:20PM (#31127532)

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...

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Re:US Capitol evacuated due to possible aircraft threat by CaliforniaKarl on Wednesday April 20, 2022 @08:42PM (#31104857)

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.

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