Plane and US Air Force jet almost collide over same airport where helicopter struck passenger jet
A commercial aircraft almost collided with a US Air Force jet near the Ronald Reagan International Airport in Washington, DC on Friday, just weeks after a deadly crash in the area.
Shortly after the Delta Airlines flight departed from the airport at 3.15pm local time (7.17pm UK), warning alarms began to sound in the plane's cockpit which signalled a high risk of collision with another aircraft.
The passenger aircraft was just south of Washington, DC over Alexandria, Virginia, when a US Air Force jet flew past it at 350 miles per hour, CNN reported. The two planes missed each other by about 500 feet.
The incident comes two months after a fatal collision between a commercial flight and a Black Hawk helicopter, which killed all 67 people on board in the deadliest plane crash in the US since 2001.
On audio from the air traffic control site LiveATC.net, the Delta pilot can be heard asking: 'On that departure … was there an actual aircraft about 500 feet below us as we came off of DCA?'
'Delta 2983, affirmative,' an air traffic controller replied.
The pilot then mentions receiving a warning from the plane's traffic alert and collision avoidance system, which informs pilots how to manoeuvre the plane to evade another aircraft.
The Air Force jet had been flying to and from a base in Langley, Virginia.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation into the incident.
In a statement to USA Today, the FAA said: 'Delta Air Lines Flight 2983 was cleared for take-off at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport around 3.15pm. local time on Friday, March 28, while four US Air Force T-38 Talons were inbound to Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover.
'The Delta aircraft received an onboard alert that another aircraft was nearby. Air traffic controllers issued corrective instructions to both aircraft.'
Delta confirmed the near-collision and praised the response of the pilot and crew.
Morgan Durrant, a spokesman for Delta Air Lines, said: 'Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people.
'That's why the flight crew followed procedures to manoeuvre the aircraft as instructed.'
The crash at the Washington airport in January has renewed debate over the overcrowded airspace nearby, which had been a matter of concern for years.
A military helicopter and plane collided in a fiery explosion over the Potomac River near Washington just as the plane was descending toward the airport. The crew of the helicopter were testing night vision goggles on a training flight.
The helicopter had exceeded its height restrictions at the time of the crash.
Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB), said preliminary analysis of the Black Hawk's black box suggested that altitude data in the cockpit may have been inaccurate.
Ms Homendy said an investigation by the NTSB found that the separation distance between planes and helicopters was 'insufficient and poses an intolerable risk to aviation safety'.
Between October 2021 and December 2024, the NTSB recorded 15,214 instances of planes and helicopters flying in overly close proximity.
The NTSB recommended a ban on helicopters flying above the airport.
The Telegraph has approached Delta, the FAA and the US Air Force for comment.
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