Washington Evacuation
U.S. Capitol Evacuated During Preparations for Reagan Funeral
W A S H I N G T O N, June 9, 2004 While was preparing for the arrival of former President Ronald Reagan's casket at the U.S. Capitol, a small private plane briefly caused panic at the building, with authorities telling thousands of people to run as fast as they could away from the area.
An all-clear has been issued by officials and the building has been reopened.
The plane, a Beech A-100 registered to the Kentucky State Police Department, had a waiver to enter the restricted airspace in order to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport. The plane is now on the ground at the airport, according to a government source, who added that it was apparently having transponder problems, which caused concern.
Security ordered people to leave the Capitol building shortly after 4:30 p.m. Crowds were already gathering in the Capitol area to watch the formal funeral procession for Reagan, scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., and to pay their respects to the late president when the public viewing of his casket begins at 8:30 p.m.
In the Capitol, police shouted, "Run, run," and told staffers and journalists to run north toward Union Station. Among the hundreds who evacuated were former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulrooney, who is in Washington to give one of the eulogies for Reagan, former FBI Director William Webster, and a very frail-looking former Attorney General Elliot Richardson.
At the Supreme Court across the street from the Capitol, police assembled several of the justices and drove them away in cars. Court workers were briefly directed to the basement, but the court building also was reopened soon after.
. We arrive Friday for a LONG planned vacation to DC. Will get into Reagan airport after 2. Have decided to take the Metro from the airport just in case things are still tied up on the streets.
