A U.S. Coast Guard training drill has led to mistaken news reports that authorities opened fire on a recreational vessel in the Potomac River on Friday morning.
The exercise, which took place at the same time as national commemorations of the September 11th terrorist attacks, caused a brief cessation of departing flights at Reagan National Airport.
FAA spokesperson Diane Spitaliere stated that the 22-minute hold, which started at 10:08 a.m. EDT, was “based on reports of activity on the Potomac, as a precaution.” She was uncertain if the decision was based on media reports or information from law enforcement authorities.
TV anchors across the country speculated live and on the air as to whether the “suspicious vessel” that the Coast Guard confronted could possibly be linked to the anniversary of the terror attacks.
The Coast Guard has issued the following statement regarding the incident…
The U.S. Coast Guard reported on Friday that reports in the media were based on overheard radio calls made over a training frequency and that no shots were fired during the exercise. The exercise was planned in advance and was being conducted on a marine radio frequency reserved for Coast Guard training and operations. No recreational boaters were involved in this training exercise. We are still gathering information of how this training event might have been misconstrued as an actual incident. We will conduct a thorough review of this incident.
Coast Guard boats were operating in the vicinity of 14th Street and Memorial Bridges this morning. Whether or not these were the same boats using the marine radio frequency used for training purposes has not yet been confirmed. The best way that we in the Coast Guard can remember Sept. 11 and our security obligations to the nation is to be always ready and this requires constant training and exercise. To ensure the appropriate readiness posture we conduct training scenarios across the nation on a daily basis.
How and when this exercised was conducted will be reviewed.
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