Army parachute teams cause evacuation of Capitol in communications snafu

April 21 (UPI) -- A communications snafu between the Army and U.S. Capitol Police led an evacuation of the Capitol as a parachute team flew over Nationals Park for a pre-game ceremony before a Major League Baseball game Wednesday evening.

The Army's Golden Knights parachute team jumped from a military plane and landed onto the outfield of the baseball stadium before the Nationals played the Arizona Diamondbacks on Military Appreciation Night.

The trouble is that the Capitol Police, which monitors the skies around the Capitol for any unusual threat, apparently did not know about it and called for an evacuation once the airplane entered the District of Columbia airspace.

Capitol Police issued a statement on social media after learning the airplane of concern was an Army aircraft with the parachute team.

"The Capitol was evacuated out of an abundance of caution this evening," the police said on Twitter. "There is no threat at the Capitol. More details to come."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blamed the Federal Aviation Administration for not informing the Capitol Police about the plane's arrival, calling the panic it caused "outrageous and inexcusable."

"The panic caused by this apparent negligence was particularly harmful for members, staff and institutional workers still grappling with the trauma of the attack on their workplace on Jan. 6 [2021]," Pelosi said, according to WTTG-TV.

The FAA said Wednesday night that it was investigating the mix up.

"The FAA takes its role in protecting the national airspace seriously and will conduct a thorough and expeditious review of this evening and share updates," it said, according to WTTG-TV. We know our actions affect others, especially in our nation's capital region, and we must communicate early and often with our law enforcement partners."