Near Midair Collision Close To Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Washington, DC - The FAA is investigating three commuter jets near midair collision close to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The three planes were operated by US Airways and were carrying 192 passengers and crew members. The FAA said in a statement that it will take appropriate action to address the miscommunication that led to the incident. Due to bad weather, air traffic controllers switched landing and departing operations and miscommunication led to a loss of the required separation between the jets.
Preliminary information indicated the landing plane came within 500 vertical feet and 1.7 lateral miles of one departing plane and 600 vertical feet and 2.8 lateral miles of the second plane. Standard separation requirements are 1,000 vertical feet and 3.5 lateral miles.
