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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi late Wednesday grilled the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for failing to notify the U.S. Capitol Police of a planned demonstration at National Park that caused an evacuation at the U.S. Capitol.
The U.S. Capitol Police had issued an evacuation order after tracking “an aircraft that poses a probable threat to the Capitol Complex.”
FILE: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
An email alert gave guidance on where individuals in several locations should move. But the aircraft in question was ultimately determined to be a single-engine private Cessna plane that entered restricted airspace over the U.S. Capitol, dropping off military parachutists at National Parks for Nationals vs. Diamondbacks baseball game.
Capitol Security officials said that they did not get a flight notification, which they usually receive. This triggered the alert and prompted the evacuation of the U.S. Capitol.
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Pelosi praised the Capitol Police for keeping the safety in mind of all those who work at the Capitol. However, she slammed the FAA, saying the failure to notify Capitol Police of the pre-planned flyover is “outrageous and inexcusable.”
“The unnecessary panic caused by this apparent negligence was particularly harmful for Members, staff and institutional workers still grappling with the trauma of the attack on their workplace on January 6th,” Pelosi said in a statement obtained by Fox News.
The U.S. Army Parachute Team the Golden Knights descend into National Park before a baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday, April 20, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“Congress looks forward to reviewing the results of a thorough after-action review that determines what precisely went wrong today and who at the Federal Aviation Administration will be held accountable for this outrageous and frightening mistake.”
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Fox News has reached out to the FAA for a response to Pelosi’s comments but did not hear back before publication time.
Fox News’ Adam Sabes and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.