How did Doug Hughes manage to land a gyrocopter on Capitol Hill?

WATCH ABOVE: There are growing questions in Washington, D.C. over a security scare near the U.S. Capitol. A man piloting a gyrocopter flew through closed airspace and landed the aircraft next to the Capitol Building. But, it turns out the Secret Service knew about the man’s plans as early as a year ago. Jackson Proskow reports.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. military says the North American Aerospace Defence Command, the Federal Aviation Administration and other law enforcement and intelligence organizations are reviewing sensor data and reviewing what happened when a gyrocopter landed on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

A NORAD spokesman says the incident highlights a persistent vulnerability: the inability to detect some low, slow-flying objects. But he says the military has begun a three-year test of a radar blimp in the region.

The Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defence Elevated Netted Sensor System has been placed in orbit over Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. It includes a football field-sized airship that floats at about 10,000 feet.

Officials expect it to be integrated into the air defence system in a few months.

Gyrocopter flew ‘under the radar’: Homeland Security chief

The gyrocopter that landed on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol “apparently literally flew in under the radar,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Thursday, as concerned lawmakers questioned how it was allowed to happen and why.

Johnson said it’s too soon to say whether Wednesday’s incident should prompt changes in security procedures. “I want to know all the facts before I reach an assessment of what can and should be done about gyrocopters in the future,” he said.

But lawmakers said the incident exposed a gap in security, especially amid revelations that the pilot, Florida postal worker Doug Hughes, was interviewed by the Secret Service almost two years ago. The agency apparently determined he did not pose a threat, said Rep. Elijah Cummings, the senior Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Cummings spoke Thursday with the Secret Service director.

“I think that there’s absolutely a gap, and it’s a very dangerous gap, with regard to our airspace,” Cummings said. “I don’t want people to get a message that they can just land anywhere. Suppose there was a bomb or an explosive device on that air vehicle? That could have been a major catastrophe.”

WATCH: Cellphone captures small helicopter coming in for landing at U.S. Capitol

Johnson said the Secret Service passed along the information from the interview with Hughes, who was to appear in court Thursday afternoon, to “all of the appropriate law enforcement agencies.”

The tiny, open-air aircraft landed without injuries to anyone, but the incident raises questions about how someone could be allowed to fly all the way from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, right up to the Capitol. Hughes has said he was making the flight to publicize his concerns about the corrupting influence of money in politics, and deliver letters to all 535 members of Congress on the topic.

“We are a democracy. We don’t have fences around our airspace, so we’ve got to find the right balance between living in a free and open society and security and the protection of federal buildings,” Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill. “And so we want to stay one step ahead of every incident like this, but then again, you don’t want to overreact, either.”

Still, lawmakers questioned why, if authorities had been in touch with Hughes, no action was taken to stop him.

“My concerns are the prior notice that he was going to do this and the lack of response,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Cummings and others also complained that they were not notified of the incident and that many first learned of it from the news media.

Johnson defended existing protocols for dealing with the restricted airspace over Washington, D.C., federal buildings and monuments.

“We’ve got a well-co-ordinated federal response to dealing with issues of those who penetrate the restricted airspace without permission,” he said.
He said his first reaction on hearing of the incident was to ask, “What’s a gyrocopter?”

A friend of Hughes said the pilot alerted the Secret Service beforehand because he was afraid he would get shot down.

READ MORE: Friend feared US Capitol gyrocopter pilot would get shot down

Hughes, 61, called Shanahan on Wednesday and said he was in the Washington, D.C. area and ready to take off, Shanahan was quoted by The Tampa Bay Times as saying. Shanahan said he feared law enforcement would shoot down the small aircraft emblazoned with the Postal Service logo, so he alerted the U.S. Secret Service. The gyrocopter landed about half a city block from the Capitol building.

A Senate aide told The Associated Press the Capitol Police knew of the plan shortly before Hughes took off. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the aide was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation.

Hughes has worked for the Postal Service for 11 years. He said he kept his Russian-born wife and 12-year-old daughter in the dark about his plan.