The Politico reporta that police ordered a full evacuation of the Capitol and House and Senate office buildings and scrambled fighter jets for a brief period on New Year's Day after an incoming airliner flew into restricted airspace surrounding the complex, according to a series of messages sent to congressional employees.The commercial aircraft — a DC-9 that was not responding to radio messages from air traffic controllers, according to one source — was intercepted and guided to Reagan National Airport, Capitol Police told congressional staff.
The FAA told the Associated Press that the aircraft was a Piedmont Airlines flight from Hilton Head, S.C., which lost radio contact due to pilot error. Piedmont is a subsidiary of US Airways.
It was first noticed at 1:30 p.m., triggering an "Aircon Red" — or air condition red — alert. E-mail evacuation notices went out to House and Senate members and staff just after 1:40 p.m., and the all-clear, a return to "Aircon Green," was given about 20 minutes later.
But despite the clearance notice from police, alarms were still audible a mile away from the Capitol more than an hour after the episode was said to have ended and aides reported that they still did not have access to their offices.
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