WASHINGTON – Disaster was narrowly averted Tuesday at Reagan National airport when three commuter jets came within seconds of a midair collision, the Washington Post reports.
The information comes from federal officials with direct knowledge of the incident.
According to the Post, the three US Airways planes ultimately landed without incident, but thousands of similar mistakes made by air traffic controllers have been logged in recent years.
Last year, Reagan National airport reported an incident where an air traffic controller fell asleep on the job and failed to respond to planes approaching for landing.
Tuesday’s incident occurred around 2 p.m. when weather caused a control center in Warrenton to reverse the flow of planes and notified the control tower at National. However, the message didn’t get passed along to the correct people, reports the Post, citing a federal official.
The FAA’s public affairs office issued a statement Wednesday saying the incident would be investigated and appropriate action would be taken.
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