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Inside the Coast Guard unit guarding DC’s most restricted airspace
As a U.S. Senate committee works to establish new flight safety rules in the skies around Washington, D.C., some things remain constant.
WASHINGTON - As a U.S. Senate committee works to establish new flight safety rules in the skies around Washington, D.C., some things remain constant.
The current restricted airspace around the nation’s capital is policed primarily by the U.S. Coast Guard and Air Force. That hasn’t changed in the wake of January’s deadly plane crash. Fox 5 today got a unique ride-along with a Coast Guard helicopter crew enforcing the nation’s most restricted airspace.
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As an alarm sounded, a U.S. Coast Guard flight crew scrambled to their helicopter, an MH-65E Dolphin, parked on the tarmac at Reagan National Airport.
"This is critical for us to be able to handle real situations," said Lt. CDR Matthew Smith, a pilot with the U.S. Coast Guard.
"365, 24/7. We are always ready to respond," added CDR Nate Rhodes, leader of this single-purposed unit.
Pilots Lt. Will Colomb and Lt. CDR Conor Lee and spotter Christian Pate brought us along for the ride.
"We’re going to launch here from Reagan National Airport," Colomb explained. "And head out and intercept a Cessna that has entered the SFR, or the special flight rules area."
Four helicopters are assigned to this unit, two of them always at the ready.
"We are constantly training to make sure that our crews are ready to respond at a moment’s notice," said CDR Rhodes.
Fox 5 went along on a twice-a-year daytime training flight with the D.C. Civil Air Patrol. They work together monthly at night — an exercise to find, intercept, and escort a wayward aircraft that has strayed into restricted airspace around D.C.
"Our main job is to de-escalate the situation," says Colomb.
An electric sign on the side of the helicopter helps deliver their message.
"Our mission is just one piece of a multi-layer defense of the nation’s capital," says Rhodes.
In this case, the target is a Cessna 182 — part of the D.C. Civil Air Patrol, flying well south of the city.
"We’re basically the first line of defense for those low, slow targets of interest that come in there," CDR Rhodes explains. "We’re the best suited to intercept them safely and then to communicate with those pilots and de-escalate the situation."
The restricted airspace around D.C. is basically rings at 10- and 30-mile radiuses around the U.S. Capitol. The Coast Guard says most of the incursions happen when general aviation pilots fail to pay attention to FAA-maintained NOTAMs — or notices to airmen — updated continuously.
"For the most part," says CDR Rhodes , "it’s not nefarious actors. It’s somebody that either got lost or they have electrical issues or radio issues." Lt. CDR Matthew Smith adds, "It’s something that’s part of the preflight planning for every pilot."
These types of incursions happen every so often, most famously in 1994 when a stolen single-engine airplane was crashed onto the South Lawn of the White House.
"In the last year we’ve had 90 alarms, 32 airborne, and five intercepts in the National Capital Region — five times," says pilot Colomb.
The Coast Guard not only protects the no-fly zone around D.C. but also temporarily restricted airspace when the president’s in New Jersey or Florida, and during major special events like the Super Bowl, U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York, and the upcoming World Cup soccer games.
Enforcing the restricted airspace around D.C. started after 9/11 — originally with Customs and Border Protection in charge. It’s now in the hands of the U.S. Coast Guard, working with the U.S. Air Force and NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
"It’s fun," says Coast Guard spotter Christian Pate. "It can be really exciting, while at the same time, the importance of it — it makes you feel good that you’re protecting the airspace, protecting the people, and also protecting the people that you’re even trying to intercept."