The Army is telling The Associated Press that military air traffic controllers lost contact with an Army helicopter for about 20 seconds as it neared the Pentagon on the flight that caused two commercial jets to abort their landings this month at a Washington airport.

The diversion of two commercial flights on May 1 has raised new questions about equipment and safety in some of Washington’s busiest airspace.

On May 1, the Pentagon briefly lost contact with an Army helicopter nearby, causing two planes to abort landings at D.C.'s Reagan National Airport.