Confusion over timing of a military flyover in March preceded dangerous close call at Washington D.C. area airport, NTSB finds
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A change in timing of a military flyover at Arlington National Cemetery ended with four Air Force jets dangerously close to a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 taking off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety board.
CNN was the first to report on the close call.
The formation of four T-38 trainer jets was scheduled to fly over the airport at 3:21 p.m. on March 28 on the way to the neighboring cemetery under the control of the Potomac Consolidated Terminal Radar Approach Control, or TRACON.
Flights taking off from national airport were being managed by a different team of air traffic controllers located in the tower at the airport.
The airport was the site of a mid-air collision in January between a Blackhawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet which killed 67 people.
In March, about 40 minutes before the flyover was to happen, the TRACON called the tower to confirm they were aware of the incoming military jets, according to air traffic control audio recordings provided to the NTSB by the Federal Aviation Administration.
'The (controller in charge) acknowledged and stated that they were waiting for a 'stop the departures time,'' the NTSB said.
The planes would be over the 'target' at 3:21 and 'the stop time would be 17,' the TRACON responded, according to the report. 'If it changed, they would call back.'
At 3:02 p.m., about five seconds after a shift change briefing concluded, the T-38's asked the TRACON to change their timing and the controller provided a target time of 3:15.
However, 10 minutes later, the TRACON operations supervisor told the tower 'stop all departures hard time is now seventeen.'
The tower continued to clear planes to take off, including Delta flight 2983, which started down the runway at 3:15 p.m.
Twenty-two seconds later the TRACON supervisors called the tower and asked why they were allowing planes to depart.
It was too late to halt the Delta flight's takeoff, so controllers warned the military planes to look out and keep away from it.
Politicians have criticized the FAA for not having enough staff at the tower, and the NTSB preliminary report noted a staffing shortage during this incident.
'Due to staffing constraints' the tower operations supervisor had completed their shift at the time of the close call and a controller In charge was providing 'general oversight at the time of the event,' the report notes.
The NTSB did not place blame, or identify the cause of the problem, which usually comes in the final report about 18 months after an incident.
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