Delta plane bound for MSP has 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 sounded alarms in the cockpit of the passenger plane Friday, according to CNN.

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.

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.

“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 LiveATC.net.

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.