Air Force Maj. Jamie Humphries, a NORAD spokesman, said the authorities are investigating why NORAD was not made aware of the gyrocopter until after it had landed on the Capitol grounds.
“We are trying to determine the why, but I can say we did not scramble assets,” he said.
Jose Labarca, 55, was sitting on the Mall at about 1:50 p.m. when he spotted the aircraft about 35 to 40 feet in the air, heading east toward the Capitol.
The chopper, Labarca said, “looked totally official” with its Postal Service logo. “I thought, the Postal Service has helicopter service to the Capitol now?” Labarca said the pilot appeared to be wearing a mailman’s uniform.