Delta plane, Air Force jet nearly crash at DC airport- 2 months after midair collision

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A Delta Airlines plane carrying 136 people nearly collided with a military jet Friday afternoon in a loss-of-separation incident outside the same DC airport where a mid-air collision took the lives of 67 people in January.

Delta Airlines Flight 2983 departed its gate from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport at 2:55 p.m. local time and was cleared for takeoff to Minneapolis-St. Paul around 3:15 p.m

As the commercial plane headed south over the Potomac River, a group of four Northrop T38 Talon jets traveled west toward Arlington National Cemetary for a flyover.

The Airbus A319 and the military jet crossed paths seconds apart, causing an onboard alert to go off inside the Delta flight cockpit.

“On that departure … was there an actual aircraft about 500 ft below us as we came off of DCA,” the commercial pilots asked air traffic controllers, CNN reported, citing audio from LiveATC.net.

“Affirmative,” a controller responded.

The alert received inside the Delta flight deck is called a “resolution advisory,” which warns pilots to take maneuvers to avoid dangerous flight paths.

The warning system is part of the plane’s Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, the outlet reported.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people,” a Delta spokesperson said. “That’s why the flight crew followed procedures to maneuver the aircraft as instructed.”

The Minnesota-bound plane was carrying 131 passengers, three flight attendants and two pilots.

The Air Force jet holds two servicemembers.

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