A vital hotline that connected air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport to Pentagon officials had been down for three years without anyone noticing, a Federal Aviation Administration official has admitted.

A hotline that directly connects the Pentagon to the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport hasn’t been operational since March 2022, an US Federal Aviation Administration official said.

Aviation officials learned of the issue after controllers at National had to order two flights to abandon landing attempts this month due to an Army helicopter heading to the Pentagon.