Gyrocopter jaunt shows capital's restricted airspace is a flying free-for-all

The small, open-air gyrocopter that landed at the U.S. Capitol this month continues to churn big debate. The aircraft flew through miles of restricted airspace, as “indistinguishable” on radar as a flock of birds, a kite, or a balloon, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday.

Pilot Doug Hughes, 61, flew under the radar to protest what he says is going on under the table in Congress.

“It’s up to the American people to catch the ball I threw,” he said in an ABC interview, responding to a question about whether his trip was worth it—especially now that he faces jail time.

Hughes planned his flight as early as 2013, when he posted his ideas for “restoring democracy” on the internet. He informed officials of his intended trip through restricted airspace in advance and claimed he only wanted to expose corruption in Congress and decry PAC donations in all political campaigns. The Secret Service even paid him a visit.

Then on April 15, he flew low and slow from Gettysburg, Pa., to Washington, right through no-fly zones, and landed on the West Lawn of the Capitol.

For security officials, Hughes’ undetected yet transparent flight is far more worrying than his message about Congress. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta on Wednesday told a House committee the small aircraft only appeared as an “irregular symbol” on air traffic controllers’ radar—a slow unidentified object posing no apparent threat. Later forensic analysis showed a dot representing the gyrocopter that “appeared only intermittently throughout the flight,” Huerta said.

Capital Police and NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command)—the law enforcement agencies responsible—have since given conflicting reports about whether the copter could have been shot down. Navy Adm. William Gortney, commander of NORAD’s U.S. Northern Command, said Wednesday officials did not have a “detection” of the aircraft or the ability to shoot it down before it landed. His testimony contradicted a statement by Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine.

More worrying still, the security agencies’ lack of coordination meant House and Senate members were not all informed of the security breach before it happened.

Dine said Capitol police only knew of the copter “seconds before it landed” and that they could have shot it down but decided it might endanger tourists and bystanders. Dine’s officers arrested the pilot as quickly as possible. “The extremely short time frame”—only two minutes—between a lockdown order issued after identifying the gyrocopter and its landing made it impossible to notify members of Congress in advance, Dine said.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the oversight panel, said the contradictory testimony shows the nation’s capital and its airspace are at risk. Representatives of seven agencies attended the Wednesday hearing on the issue.

“Who’s going to take the shot if need be?” Chaffetz asked, highlighting the risks of overlapping responsibility between agencies.

Gortney testified small and slow aircraft such as Hughes’ gyrocopter represent a “technical and operational challenge” for NORAD and the military to detect and defend against. It’s an issue that concerns more than just the capital’s restricted airspace with the upcoming commercial boom in unmanned drones and other aerial vehicles capable of swooping in, indistinguishable to radar.

Hughes’ jaunt to Washington “has further confirmed the need to continue to improve our ability to identify low-altitude and slow-speed aerial vehicles” operating in the skies above the nation’s capital, Gortney said.

Following his safe landing, Hughes, a Florida postal worker, was arrested and charged with violating restricted airspace and operating an unregistered aircraft. His next court date is set for May 8.

Chaffetz said Hughes is simply “lucky to be alive” and “should have been blown out of the air.”