A plane carrying US military skydivers triggered a false alarm at the US Capitol prompting an evacuation of the complex, according to local media reports.
The US Capitol Police on Wednesday evening falsely identified a military aircraft as a “probable threat”. In fact, the plane was carrying US Army’s Golden Knights demonstration team parachuting into a nearby Washington Nationals game.
Apparently, the US Capitol Police were not notified.
“Evacuate Now: Aircraft Intrusion” read the email subject line of a Capitol Police alert issued shortly after 6.30 pm, reports the CNN.
“The USCP is tracking an aircraft that poses a probable threat to the Capitol Complex,” the email began, listing instructions for people at various locations at the complex.
About 20 minutes later, the Capitol Police found that there was no threat at all.
“The Capitol was evacuated out of an abundance of caution this evening. There is no threat at the Capitol,” the department tweeted.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed the Federal Aviation Administration for the apparent mix-up, blaming them for “causing unnecessary panic”.
“The Federal Aviation Administration’s apparent failure to notify Capitol Police of the pre-planned flyover Nationals Stadium is outrageous and inexcusable,” Pelosi said in a statement.
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“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,” the top House Democrat added.
The House speaker went on to vow that Congress would hold FAA officials “accountable” for the breakdown in communication.
Several lawmakers and visitors present at the complex were shocked by the false alarm as the trauma of Capitol riots and the 9/11 attacks were still etched in everyone’s memories.
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“We just went through a very stressful 15 minutes, but we are thankful that everyone is safe,” congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez said on Twitter.
CNN’s congressional correspondent Ryan Nobles said he was among those evacuated, and that “for a good 15 minutes it was pretty frantic.”
“The alarms were loud and intense, and Capitol Police were not messing around getting people out,” he tweeted.
(With inputs from agencies)
