A Delta Airlines flight carrying 136 passengers narrowly avoided a collision with an Air Force jet Friday afternoon, near the same Washington, D.C. airport where 67 people died in a midair crash just two months ago.
The close call happened at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Delta Flight 2983, an Airbus A319, was getting ready to take off for Minneapolis-St. Paul with 131 passengers and five crew members on board. At the same time, four Air Force T-38 Talon jets were heading for a scheduled flyover of Arlington National Cemetery.
As the Delta flight was cleared for takeoff around 3:15 pm, the pilots were warned by an onboard alert about another aircraft nearby. Air traffic controllers quickly stepped in and ordered both the Delta plane and the military jets to change their flight paths to avoid a crash.
The Delta plane had just left the gate at 2:55 pm and was scheduled to arrive in Minneapolis at 4:36 pm. Thanks to the intervention of air traffic controllers, the flight changed course, and no injuries were reported.
The Air Force T-38 Talon is a supersonic jet used for pilot training and other military tasks.
The FAA is investigating the near-miss to figure out what went wrong and prevent similar incidents in the future.
This close call follows the deadly crash earlier this year at the same airport. In January, a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Eagle flight, killing all 67 people on board.
Last month, another Delta plane went off the runway at Toronto Pearson Airport during a landing attempt. Thankfully, everyone survived that incident.
