Ranking Members Larsen, Thompson Demand Answers from DOT, DHS About Alarming Use of Anti-Drone System Impacting DCA Airport
Why did the U.S. Secret Service Use Technology that Affected Commercial Aircraft Against Guidance from the FAA?
(WASHINGTON) – Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following the recent misuse of counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) by the U.S. Secret Service that allegedly violated existing notification and operating requirements previously agreed upon with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and threatened the safety of the flying public in the Washington, D.C. airspace.
“We are deeply concerned about the recent use of counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) by the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) that resulted in false Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) alerts last month on several commercial passenger aircraft operating near Washington National Airport (DCA),” the Ranking Members wrote.
“[T]he FAA determined that despite its pre-deployment coordination with the USSS, the agency operated this C-UAS system outside of the agreed-upon requirements. Even more troubling, the FAA did not receive any notifications from USSS about this C-UAS activation, in violation of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Concept of Operations (CONOPS),” the Ranking Members continued.
“The flying public cannot afford for these safety issues to continue and certainly should not be collateral damage due to your Departments’ inability to coordinate effectively…security efforts cannot come at the expense of the safety of the flying public,” the Ranking Members continued.
The Members concluded by demanding answers about the U.S. Secret Service’s apparent breach of protocol and details on how the Departments will work together to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
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