A hotline between military and civilian air traffic controllers in Washington, D.C., that hasn’t worked for more than three years may have contributed to another near miss shortly after the Army resumed flying helicopters in the area for the first time since January’s deadly midair collision between a passenger jet and a Black Hawk helicopter.

A “hotline” between air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the Pentagon intended to coordinate aircraft has not worked since March 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration revealed in a congressional hearing Wednesday.

A hotline connecting the Pentagon and Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers at Reagan Washington National Airport has been inoperable since March 2022, an FAA official told a Senate committee on Wednesday.