Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has publicly criticized the Department of Defense after an Army helicopter caused two commercial flights to abort their landings at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., last week. This created an unusual public confrontation between two former Fox News personalities who now hold Cabinet positions in the Trump administration.
The incident has put Duffy at odds with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, his former colleague from their Fox News days. Both men transitioned from television hosts to influential government positions, but their shared media background hasn’t prevented a growing rift over military helicopter operations.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the incident occurred on May 1, 2025, around 2:30 p.m., when air traffic controllers instructed a Delta Airlines flight from Orlando and a Republic Airways flight from Boston to perform go-arounds to avoid an Army Black Hawk helicopter.
Duffy, confirmed as Transportation Secretary in January, did not hold back his criticism of the Pentagon. “Unacceptable,” Duffy wrote on social media. He stressed that helicopter restrictions around DCA are clear and would contact the Department of Defense to find out why our rules were blatantly ignored.
Duffy added that safety must always be the top priority, highlighting the 67 lives that were recently lost. He was adamant that there should be no more helicopter flights for VIPs or nonessential training missions in the crowded DCA airspace filled with civilians. Use a taxi or Uber instead—most VIPs already have access to black car services.
The Transportation Secretary’s reference to 67 lost lives alludes to the January 29 collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet in the same airspace. That crash, which occurred just after Duffy’s confirmation, claimed the lives of all 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the American Airlines flight, as well as three Army personnel in the helicopter.
In a televised interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, Duffy expressed frustration over not receiving information from Hegseth’s department about who was aboard the helicopter involved in the recent incident. “So there are way too many VIPs is what they call them at the Pentagon,” Duffy said. “I mean, I look around the White House, there’s a lot of really important people here. They take a Suburban.”
During the same interview, Duffy pointedly referenced his former Fox News colleague, saying he had tried and failed to get answers from Hegseth about the incident. The fact that both Cabinet secretaries were once television hosts on the same network has made their public disagreement particularly notable in Washington circles.
When MacCallum mentioned that Pentagon sources said the helicopter was on a training mission, Duffy responded with skepticism. He pointed out that training missions are often used as a label—for example, when F-16s fly over a football game, that too is classified as a training mission. He questioned how many of these so-called training missions actually happen during the day.
According to an early FAA report shared with members of Congress, the Black Hawk helicopter “did not proceed directly” to the Pentagon Heliport” but instead “took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport.”
The Army helicopter was part of the 12th Aviation Battalion out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the same unit involved in the January crash. According to a statement from U.S. Army spokesperson Capt. Victoria Goldfedib, the UH-60 Blackhawk was carrying out flight operations into the Pentagon following established FAA flight routes and instructions from DCA Air Traffic Control when it performed a go-around. This occurred after Pentagon Air Traffic Control informed the crew that they did not have clearance to land, leading the helicopter to fly over the Pentagon helipad while still adhering to all approved flight procedures.
In another interview, Duffy directly called on Hegseth to explain “with radical transparency” who could charter a military helicopter out of the airport and disrupt plane traffic, highlighting the tension between the two former television personalities now serving in President Trump’s Cabinet.
Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns similar to Duffy’s. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas stated that just days after military flights resumed in the National Capital Region, the Army is once again endangering the traveling public.
Cruz emphasized that two recent close calls did not result in the loss of hundreds of lives, thanks to the quick actions of air traffic controllers and pilots. He argued that the FAA needs to take immediate action and assert control over the national airspace to prevent the Army from operating what he described as air taxis for military officials near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, described the incident as outrageous and said it is long overdue for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the FAA to give the nation’s airspace the level of security and safety it requires.
The clash comes as Duffy faces other challenges at the Department of Transportation, including staffing issues at the Federal Aviation Administration. Duffy announced at a town hall on May 2 that the department will perform reductions in force at the end of May as part of the Trump administration’s goal to reduce the federal employee headcount.
Duffy has consistently emphasized that air safety is his highest priority. Speaking at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, he acknowledged that the Department has taken on many priorities—some of which he might disagree with, and others that different people may support or oppose—but stressed that the sole mission of the Department is safety. He stated that safety is the core principle on which the Department was founded and affirmed that they are refocusing on that mission.
The Transportation Secretary is also pushing for a significant overhaul of the country’s air traffic control system. Last week, he noted that signs of strain are becoming increasingly apparent. He plans to request tens of billions of dollars to revamp the U.S. air traffic control system to fix deteriorating infrastructure, severe staffing shortages, and outdated technology.
The Pentagon has not yet publicly responded to Duffy’s criticisms, leaving observers to wonder if Hegseth will publicly address the concerns his former Fox News colleague raised.
