UPDATE: U.S. Capitol Evacuated After Mixup With Army Golden Knights Parachute Team

AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe

UPDATE 8:37 p.m.: It has since been confirmed that the aircraft was part of a parachute team set to perform at Wednesday’s Washington Nationals game.

The Washington Examiner reported:

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The parachuting stunt was part of the pregame demonstration at Nationals Park, where the Nationals were hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks. The plane was carrying members of the U.S. Army Golden Knights, who parachuted into the stadium, according to ESPN.

The single-engine aircraft had “not coordinated appropriately,” sources told a CNN reporter. After dropping off the parachutists, the plane “then entered the flight exclusion zone, which triggered the alarm,” as “multiple Capitol security officials say there was no heads-up, which they usually get. That triggered the alarm and prompted the Capitol evacuation,” said a Fox News reporter.

“The Federal Aviation Administration’s apparent failure to notify Capitol Police of the pre-planned flyover Nationals Stadium is outrageous and inexcusable. 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,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.”

“Congress looks forward to reviewing the results of a thorough after-action review that determines what precisely went wrong today and who at the Federal Aviation Administration will be held accountable for this outrageous and frightening mistake,” she added.

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Original report:

The United States Capitol was evacuated Wednesday evening due to a “probable threat” from an aircraft, the U.S. Capitol Police said.

“The USCP is tracking an aircraft that poses a probable threat to the Capitol complex,” the statement said, according to an email posted on Twitter by a Capitol staffer.

Moments later, Capitol Police informed staffers that the aircraft no longer posed a threat.

“The Capitol was evacuated out of an abundance of caution this evening. There is no threat at the Capitol. More details to come,” the law enforcement agency tweeted at 6:48 p.m. EST.

 

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