Officials said that a U.S. military jet and a U.S. passenger plane preparing to depart the nation’s capitol received instructions to divert to avoid causing a collision.
The Federal Aviation Administration released a statement confirming that Delta Air Lines Flight 2883 was cleared to take off at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport around 3:15 pm on Friday, as four T-38 Talon aircraft of the U.S. Air Force were arriving.
The Delta aircraft was en route to a flyover over Arlington National Cemetery when it received an alert onboard of another aircraft nearby. According to the FAA, which is investigating, air traffic controllers gave “corrective instructions” to both aircraft.
Delta Airlines reported that the Airbus A319, with 131 passengers and two pilots, was on a regularly scheduled flight between Reagan International Airport and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
According to the airline, the flight left the gate at 2:55 pm and was originally scheduled to arrive in Minneapolis-St. Paul by 4:36 pm local time. However, the crew followed the instructions of the controllers.
There were no reported injuries.
The Air Force website describes the T-38 Talon as “a high-altitude supersonic twin-engine jet trainer”. It is used by various departments and agencies, including NAS,A for various purposes including pilot training.
