Emergency drill at National Airport means brief closure of Terminal 1 tomorrow

Terminal 1 at Reagan National Airport will briefly shut down this weekend for an emergency drill.

The terminal at DCA will close to the public at approximately 11:30 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday) and reopen around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Locals may notice additional vehicles at the airport and hear radio traffic from the drill’s simulated emergency. The drill is meant to test the response capabilities of the airport and other public safety agencies — like the Arlington County Fire Department — which provide mutual aid in the event of emergencies.

Flights from Air Canada, Frontier and Southwest Airlines fly out of Terminal 1.

More from a press release, below.

Reagan National Airport will hold a full-scale public safety emergency drill overnight on Saturday, October 5 – Sunday, October 6. Multiple stakeholders will participate and test the emergency response and operational capability of the airport and its mutual aid partners. The drill will begin after the last flight from Terminal 1 on Saturday evening.

Terminal 1 (Air Canada, Frontier, Southwest) will be closed to the public and media for several hours, and passersby may notice additional public safety vehicles in the area or hear exercise-related radio traffic during the simulated emergency.

Terminal 2 will remain open.

Emergency exercise sequence (times are approximate):

Saturday, October 5

• Terminal 1 open through the final flight of the evening
• Terminal 1 closes to the public
• Exercise begins at 11:30 p.m.

Sunday, October 6

• Exercise concludes at 1:30 a.m.
• Exercise participants de-mobilize
• Terminal 1 reopens for passengers and flights

Follow @Reagan_Airport on Twitter/X for updates through the evening.