A Punch Throws DC Control Tower Into Chaos

An air traffic control supervisor was arrested Friday after allegedly assaulting a colleague in the control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport. Damon Marsalis Gaines, 39, of Maryland, was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. He allegedly punched a colleague Thursday during an altercation about operations, requiring other employees in the control tower to step away from their duties communicating with aircraft to restrain Gaines, sources tell the Washington Post. The airports authority only mentioned "reports of an incident in the ATC control tower at DCA."

The Federal Aviation Administration, which manages air traffic operations at the airport, declined to say what prompted the incident, but noted "the employee is on administrative leave while we investigate the matter," per the New York Times. Online records indicate Gaines has been an air traffic controller since at least 2015, per the Post. He was booked into Arlington County Jail and released. The incident follows a series of troubling incidents at Reagan National Airport, including January's midair collision that resulted in 67 deaths. There was a close call between a commercial plane and an Air Force jet on Friday. The next day, a kite struck a landing plane. (More Ronald Reagan National Airport stories.)