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A Delta Air Lines flight departing Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., experienced a close call with an Air Force jet just after takeoff Friday afternoon, authorities confirmed. Both flights ultimately continued to their destinations without incident. The situation occurred just after Delta Flight 2983, an Airbus A319, had taken off from Reagan International at around 3:15 p.m. Eastern Time bound for Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.Meanwhile, four U.S. Air Force T-38 Talons were in the area heading to Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover, the FAA said.Air traffic data from FlightRadar.com indicated one of the T-38 jets was at an altitude of 875 feet.The Delta flight “received an onboard alert that another aircraft was nearby,” and “air traffic controllers issued corrective instructions to both aircraft,” the FAA said.
It’s unclear how close the fighter jet got to the passenger plane. The flight had 131 passengers, two pilots, and three flight attendants on board at the time, a Delta spokesperson confirmed to CBS News.The Delta spokesperson said the flight crew also followed instructions from the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, an FAA device used to reduce the risk of mid-air collisions. Shortly after the close call, one of the Delta pilots asked Reagan air traffic controllers, “Was there an actual aircraft about 500 feet below us as we came off DCA?” The departure controller responded, “Delta 2983, affirmative,” according to audio from LiveATC.net. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people,” a spokesperson for Delta said in a statement to CBS News. “That’s why the flight crew followed procedures to maneuver the aircraft as instructed.”
CBS News has reached out to the Air Force for a statement. The FAA said it will investigate the incident.This comes in the wake of the Jan. 29 midair collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines flight near Reagan National that killed 67 people, the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster since 2001.
The air traffic control tower at Reagan National Airport on Feb. 3, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia.
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