White House: ‘Useful Lessons’ to Be Learned from Gyrocopter Incident
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ABC News(WASHINGTON) — The White House believes there are some “useful lessons” to be learned after a 61-year-old Postal Service worker from Florida managed to land a small helicopter on the West Front lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building Wednesday.
“I’m confident that there will be, you know, a careful look at this incident. And while we certainly are pleased that no one was harmed in this incident, it may provide an opportunity for law enforcement agencies, including the Secret Service, to review their procedures and to get some useful lessons from it,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday at the daily briefing.
The Postal Service worker, identified as Doug Hughes, was arrested shortly after he landed the gyrocopter. Law enforcement sources said he wanted to draw attention to the issue of campaign finance reform.
“The Secret Service takes very seriously the responsibility that they have to protect the president, to protect the White House, to protect those of us who work at the White House, to protect the airspace above the White House,” Earnest said. “They obviously are dealing with a very dynamic, challenging security environment. Not only is there all kinds of new technology that they have to be prepared for, but there are also threats that emanate from a lot of different places.”
Earnest did not have any reaction from the president to share. President Obama was in the air aboard Air Force One when the small aircraft landed on the Capitol lawn.
“I wasn’t on the trip, so I didn’t see his initial reaction. It might have been, ‘What’s a gyrocopter?’ I know that was my reaction,” Earnest joked.
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