Delta flight nearly collides with Air Force jet during Arlington National Cemetery flyover

A Delta Air Lines flight with 137 people on board almost collided with a U.S. Air Force jet in what could have been the second major air collision to occur in months.

Around 3:15 pm on Friday, March 28th, nearly three months since the Potomac River collision, Delta flight 2983 took off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia en route to Saint Paul, Minnesota.

As the Delta flight took off, four U.S. Air Force T-38 Talons that’d taken off from Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia were flying toward Arlington National Cemetery for a brief flyover.

At some point after takeoff, the Delta flight “received an onboard alert that another aircraft was nearby,” according to a notice from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

That aircraft is now believed to be one of the U.S. Air Force T-38 Talons en route to Arlington National Cemetery.

Close call reported between Delta flight DL2983 and Air Force T-38 jet near Reagan National Via @AirNavRadar

Flight data: https://t.co/F3YVXmDtAJ pic.twitter.com/uhHRkQr1yj

— Flight Emergency (@FlightEmergency) March 29, 2025

“Air traffic controllers issued corrective instructions to both aircraft,” the FAA’s notice continues.

Both flights then continued on their way without any other incidents.

Speaking later with Fox News, a Delta spokesperson confirmed that flight 2983’s crew had closely followed air traffic control instructions.

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

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has begun raising concerns about why military planes (and helicopters) keep flying so close to commercial aircraft loaded with people.

“Unbelievably dangerous and thank God people are safe,” she tweeted about the flight late Friday. “My first call to Department of Defense tomorrow: why are your planes flying 500 feet below passenger jets full of Minnesotans headed from DCA to my state.”

Unbelievably dangerous and thank God people are safe.

My first call to Department of Defense tomorrow: why are your planes flying 500 feet below passenger jets full of Minnesotans headed from DCA to my state. https://t.co/RjjjcFfjwG

— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) March 29, 2025

On Thursday, a day before the incident, the Senate held a hearing with officials from the FAA, U.S. Army and National Transportation Safety Board to talk about the Potomac River crash.

“Senators on both sides of the aisle seemed to agree that the accident would have been preventable if the appropriate precautions had been taken and if more stringent regulations were in place,” according to USA Today.

“Alarm bells about potential collisions have been ringing for years,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth said in her opening statement. “The warnings have been clear.”

Meanwhile, a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board found that there have been thousands of close calls around the Potomac River area in the past couple of years.

“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,” as reported by CNN.

Huge. “Clearly something was missed,” is the big admission just now from the acting FAA chief after the NTSB uncovered repeat near collisions involving helicopters leading up to the DCA midair collision.

The NTSB just said its info came from *publicly available FAA data* pic.twitter.com/Rn0BGop9KR

— Pete Muntean (@petemuntean) March 27, 2025

As noted earlier, at some point, the Delta flight that took off Friday received an onboard alert that another aircraft was nearby. This alert is known as a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) Resolution Advisory (RA), or TCAS RA.

“Typically, these TCAS RA alerts are a critical safety barrier, enabling pilots to execute maneuvers to maintain safe separation,” according to Aireon.

What’s not well known is that TCAS RAs are reportedly relatively commonplace.

“[M]ore than 5,000 TCAS RAs occurred worldwide in February 2025 alone, with 67% demanding corrective maneuvers to avoid collisions,” Aireon notes.

TCAS alerts, while certainly not a good thing are relativly common. A quick google search showed about 5000 of these alerts worldwide in February 2025. While decreasing this number should be a goal, this post is intented play on fear and politics.

— BaronPilot (@BaronPilot55) March 29, 2025

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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