A military parachute display at a Washington Nationals game prompted the U.S. Capitol to order an evacuation on Wednesday evening.
The event was reportedly part of a military appreciation night event hosted by Major League Baseball.
According to reports, a pilot gave an air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport their plan to drop parachutists, including the specific direction they were planning to fly.
Lawmakers, Capitol staffers, and journalists were sent scrambling after they received a “probable threat” warning at around 6:35 p.m. It called for the Capitol, its Visitor Center, several congressional office buildings, and the U.S. Botanic Garden to be cleared out.
“The USCP is tracking an aircraft that poses a probable threat to the Capitol Complex,” read an email from Capitol Police.
Sirens rang in the air as police began evacuating staffers and tourists out of the area while the plane in question continued its flight.
Nearly 30 minutes later, the Capitol Police said there was no threat.
“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 blamed the Federal Aviation Administration for the incident, saying its “apparent failure” to notify authorities of the flight was “outrageous and inexcusable.”
“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. “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 Federal Aviation Administration said in a late Wednesday statement that it will conduct “thorough and expeditious review” of the incident.
“The FAA takes its role in protecting the national airspace seriously and will conduct a thorough and expeditious review of the events this evening and share updates,” the administration said. “We know our actions affect others, especially in our nation’s capital region, and we must communicate early and often with our law enforcement partners.”
Kelli LeGaspi, a spokeswoman for US Army Recruiting Command, said the Army will also be a part of the investigation.
