A Pentagon-airport hotline critical for air safety has been down since 2022, spotlighted after a fatal January crash.

Since March 2022, a critical hotline providing direct communication between the Pentagon and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has been non-functional due to construction at the Pentagon. This issue came to light during a Senate hearing following a January collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet, which resulted in 67 fatalities. The FAA and Pentagon have been using telephone communication as a workaround. The FAA now insists on repairing the hotline before resuming Pentagon operations.