BURSTReagan Washington National Airport resumed flights Monday after stopping them earlier in the day after an air traffic control fire alarm went off.
In an earlier statement Monday, obtained by The Hill’s sister network NewsNation, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the agency was “pausing flights heading to Reagan Washington National Airport due to a fire alarm in the air traffic control tower.”
The FAA said in a later statement to NewsNation that it was “slowing flights into Reagan Washington National airport due to volume after inbound flights were paused because a fire alarm was activated in the air traffic control tower.”
“The tower is back to being fully operational,” the agency added.
According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, 173 flights headed to National Airport were delayed Monday.
Earlier this year, National Airport experienced a tragedy when an American Airlines flight and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided near the airport, leaving no survivors. In the following months, a number of notable aviation incidents also raised questions about flight safety in the U.S.