Pentagon-DCA Emergency Communication Line Has Been Down Since 2022

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed during a Senate hearing that the direct emergency communication line between the Pentagon and Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) has been out of service since March 2022. The outage was only discovered after the January incident where a Black Hawk helicopter collided with a passenger aircraft, resulting in 67 fatalities.

The FAA explained that the line was disabled due to ongoing construction of a new control tower, and communications have since been handled via temporary phone connections. The U.S. military announced that until the dedicated line is restored, flights to the Pentagon will be limited to critical missions only.