Phantom planes trigger collision avoidance systems on planes near DCA after fatal crash earlier this year

On 1 March 2025, dozens of commercial pilots approaching Washington National Airport were jolted by a series of urgent midair warnings: “Traffic, traffic!” and “Descend, descend!” Yet no other aircraft were visible, and air traffic control confirmed the skies were clear. These phantom alerts, triggered by aircraft collision-avoidance systems (TCAS), appeared to be electronic mirages—ghost planes conjured by spoofed signals.

The false alarms came just weeks after a tragic midair collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near DCA, the first fatal US airline crash in sixteen years. While no one was harmed in March’s incident, the risk was real; false positives caused pilots to deviate from avoidance procedures.

Initially suspected to be a sophisticated cyberattack, New York magazine unearthed the culprit. At a Senate hearing weeks later, Sen. Ted Cruz revealed that the source of the anomalies was a counter-drone technology test carried out—without proper coordination—by the US Secret Service and Navy. A government source then confirmed the activity occurred near the Naval Observatory, just miles from the false alert zone, on background to New York.

Experts, including former DOT Inspector General Mary Schiavo, slammed the operation as negligent. “This was a gross abuse of authority,” she said. “We’re lucky no one was hurt.”

The incident has added to growing alarm about aviation cybersecurity. Since 2014, drone warfare and electronic jamming—especially by Russia—have increasingly interfered with civil aviation. Researchers have warned for years that unencrypted systems like TCAS are vulnerable to spoofing, yet the regulatory response has lagged behind.