Latest news with #T-38Talons
CNN
01-04-2025
- General
- CNN
Collision warning sounds in cockpit of Delta plane due to close call with Air Force jet near Reagan National Airport
A close call between a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 taking off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and a US Air Force T-38 jet, often used by the military for training, sounded alarms in the cockpit of the passenger plane Friday. Delta 2983 was departing Reagan Airport around 3:15 p.m. and heading to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for a regularly scheduled flight. Delta did not identify the other jet involved, but a review of tracking data from FlightRadar24 shows an Air Force T-38 jet flying past the Delta plane and DCA airport going more than 350 miles per hour at 800 feet. The military jet took off and landed at Langley Air Force Base, in Hampton, Virginia. CNN has asked the Air Force for comment. The Delta aircraft was cleared for takeoff at around 3:15 p.m. ET, while four U.S. Air Force T-38 Talons were inbound to Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover, the FAA said in a statement. The Delta aircraft received an onboard alert that another aircraft was nearby and air traffic controllers issued corrective instructions to both aircraft, the FAA reported. The FAA and the NTSB are investigating the incident. A preliminary NTSB report will be issued within 30 days. The close call happened just south of DCA airport, close to the spot where an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided, killing 67 people, on January 29. At a congressional hearing on Thursday Senators demanded to know why close calls between military helicopters and passenger planes went unchecked for so long at DCA. The NTSB said investigators uncovered more than 15,000 occurrences for close proximity events between commercial airplanes and helicopters between 2021 and 2024 where aircraft were within one nautical mile and 85 cases where two aircraft were separated by only 1,500 feet vertically and 200 feet laterally. The FAA has since closed a helicopter route by the airport and Thursday vowed to required military aircraft near DCA to fly with specific collision avoidance equipment turned on. But that wasn't enough to prevent today's close call as the Delta plane was taking off. 'On that departure … was there an actual aircraft about 500 ft below us as we came off of DCA,' the Delta pilot asked air traffic controllers on audio captured by website 'Delta 2983, affirmative,' the Departure controller responds. The pilot also noted they received a warning in the cockpit, called a 'resolution advisory' from the plane's Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System. The system tells a pilot what to do to avoid a collision. 'Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people,' said Morgan Durrant, a spokesperson for Delta Air Lines. 'That's why the flight crew followed procedures to maneuver the aircraft as instructed.' Two pilots, three flight attendants and 131 passengers were on board the Delta aircraft.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
US NTSB to investigate close call between Delta plane, military jets
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Monday it will investigate a close call between a Delta Air Lines plane and a group of Air Force jets near Reagan Washington National Airport last week. The Delta Airbus A319 received a cockpit collision warning alert that another aircraft was nearby, and controllers issued corrective instructions to both aircraft. The Delta flight had been cleared to depart as four U.S. Air Force T-38 Talons were inbound to nearby Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it would investigate the incident, which occurred earlier that day. It followed a mid-air collision on January 29 near the same airport involving a passenger jet and a U.S. Army helicopter, which killed 67 people in the first deadly U.S. passenger airline crash in 16 years. A Delta spokesman on Monday reiterated that the carrier would fully cooperate with the investigations, and that its flight crew had followed procedures to maneuver the aircraft as instructed. A series of troubling near-miss incidents over the past two years has raised concerns about U.S. aviation safety and the strain on understaffed air traffic control operations.
Reuters
31-03-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
NTSB to investigate close call between Delta plane, Air Force jets
WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday it will investigate a close call between a Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), opens new tab flight and a group of U.S. Air Force jets near Reagan Washington National Airport Friday. The Delta Airbus A319 received a cockpit collision warning alert that another aircraft was nearby, and controllers issued corrective instructions to both aircraft. The Delta flight had been cleared to depart as four U.S. Air Force T-38 Talons were inbound to nearby Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover. The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A Delta Air Lines plane and a US Air Force jet had a near miss close to Washington's Reagan Airport
Two aircraft were involved in a near miss near Washington's Ronald Reagan Airport last week. A Delta Air Lines plane and an Air Force jet came close to each other, an FAA incident report said. The near miss came two months after a collision close to the airport killed 67 people. A Delta Air Lines flight and a US Air Force aircraft had a near miss near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, just two months after a midair collision near the same airport killed more than 60 people. The incident occurred on Friday, March 28, at 3:16 p.m. when Delta Flight 2983, an Airbus A319, had just received takeoff clearance. At the same time, four US Air Force T-38 Talons were inbound to Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover. The T-38 Talon is a two-seat supersonic jet used to train pilots. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Delta pilot received an onboard alert that another aircraft was nearby. Air traffic controllers quickly issued corrective instructions to both planes, preventing a collision. The FAA has launched an investigation. Flight tracking footage and audio communications, shared by VASAviation on YouTube, show just how close the two aircraft came. Both flights continued to their destinations without further incident. "Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people. That's why the flight crew followed procedures to maneuver the aircraft as instructed," a Delta spokesperson told Business Insider. The near-miss incident came almost exactly two months after an American Airlines flight collided with a Black Hawk helicopter close to the same airport, killing 67 people. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, located just outside Washington, DC, is home to the country's busiest runway, with over 800 takeoffs and landings per day. The airport is the closest of three area airports to the city, about 3 miles south of the White House. Its proximity to Capitol Hill makes it a favorite of lawmakers. Military helicopters also frequently fly low over the nearby Potomac River, transiting between military bases close by and the Pentagon, about a mile north of the airport. Flying into and out of Reagan Airport, with short runways and such heavily restricted airspace nearby, is "like threading a needle," one pilot previously told Business Insider. Following the January incident, Brian Alexander, a military helicopter pilot and a partner at the aviation accident law firm Kreindler & Kreindler, told BI that a shortage of air traffic controllers and increasing airspace congestion had affected safety. "Our whole air traffic control system has been blinking red, screaming at us that we've got it overloaded," he said at the time. More broadly, air traffic congestion has become a growing concern. According to a January report from the National Transportation Safety Board, there were more than 15,000 close calls between commercial airplanes and helicopters from October 2021 to December 2024. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Kite reportedly makes contact with United flight attempting to land at Reagan National Airport
A United Airlines plane reportedly made contact with a kite while it was attempting to land at Reagan National Airport (DCA) on Saturday afternoon, the airline confirmed in a statement to Fox News Digital. "We are aware of reports that a kite struck UA flight 654 from Houston to Reagan Airport in Washington D.C.," the statement read. "The aircraft landed safely, customers deplaned normally and upon inspection there was no damage to the aircraft." The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) also confirmed the incident to Fox News Digital and shared details of what transpired. Delta Plane, Air Force Jet Nearly Crash In 'Loss Of Separation' During Arlington National Cemetery Flyover "Police officers responded to reports of kite-flying at Gravely Point yesterday, an activity which is not allowed in that area due to the danger to low-flying aircraft," the statement read. Read On The Fox News App Gravelly Point is a park in Arlington, Virginia, located north of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, along the George Washington Parkway, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. It is only a "few hundred feet away" from the runway at DCA, according to the park's website. The agency said officers warned some individuals about flying kites and "briefly confiscated a kite." "That kite was returned to its owner shortly later and no charges were filed," the agency said. Video Shows Italian Fighter Jets Escorting American Airlines Flight To Rome Amid 'Security Concern' The MWAA added that they could not confirm whether a kite hit the plane. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told Fox News Digital that "they have not been made aware of any such incident." While it has not yet been determined if the kite actually hit the plane, Captain Robert Katz, a veteran commercial pilot and flight instructor for 43 years, told WUSA9 that he doesn't believe the kite made contact with the plane on Saturday afternoon. "If the kite had actually made contact with the airplane, we would know it," Captain Katz told the outlet. "The kite would have been destroyed and possibly the airplane as well, although not likely." Katz also said that he believes whoever was flying the kite had been intentionally reckless. "That to me is incredibly irresponsible, and it's going to be a real stretch for someone to claim they don't know," Katz explained. United Airlines Flight Forced To Make Emergency Landing At Newark Katz added that in his 43-year-lomg career, he had never heard of a kite hitting a plane before. He did say that commercial flight interference from the ground happens frequently, but mostly from people shining lasers at planes. This latest incident comes a day after a Delta Air Lines plane nearly crashed midair with a T-38 Air Force jet near DCA. Delta Air Lines Flight 2983, an Airbus A319 headed to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) when four U.S. Air Force T-38 Talons were inbound to Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover on March 28, according to the FAA and U.S. Air Force. The FAA said the Delta plane received an "onboard alert" that another aircraft was nearby, and air traffic controllers issued corrective instructions to both aircraft. The NTSB said it was aware of "a loss of separation" between Delta flight 2983 and other aircraft, shortly after takeoff from DCA. "We are currently collecting information, but have not yet launched an investigation," an NTSB spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital. Both incidents come months after the deadly Jan. 29 collision when an Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane collided near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, D.C. All 67 people were killed, which included 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the American Airlines flight and three soldiers aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Fox News Digital's Alexandra Koch contributed to this report. Original article source: Kite reportedly makes contact with United flight attempting to land at Reagan National Airport
