A flyover by the U.S. Army Golden Knights prior to the Washington Nationals’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Nationals Park prompted the U.S. Capitol to be briefly evacuated. The aircraft was carrying a group of parachutists.
The aircraft took off from Joint Base Andrews in nearby Maryland. However, when it was circling within restricted airspace, the U.S. Capitol Police sent out an alert saying they were “tracking an aircraft that poses a probable threat” that caused congressional staffers to flee the Capitol grounds.
Nationals Park is one mile from the U.S. Capitol.
Eventually, authorities were able to identify the plane. The parachutists descended from the aircraft into Nationals Park. The plane returned to Andrews around 6:50 p.m, according to ESPN. Buildings on the Capitol grounds were reopened around 8:00 p.m.
The wife of Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle was near the Capitol during the evacuation and tweeted her experience.
A statement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blamed the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA failed to notify Capitol Police. The mistake was called “outrageous and inexcusable.”
She adds Congress “looks forward” to a review of what went wrong and led to the incident.
