WASHINGTON – A Delta airliner taking off from Reagan National Airport with 136 people avoided a collision with an Air Force stunt plane. The Delta pilot abruptly pulled out of the danger zone and continued to Minneapolis. The Air Force plane, a T-38 Talon, was in a four-plane formation headed to nearby Arlington National Cemetery for a fly-over demonstration. Federal Aviation Administration authorities called it a close call that will be investigated. The incident was about 3:15 p.m. An alert sounded in the cockpit of the Delta Airbus 319 that a second plane was perilously close — like 500 feet. At the same time an air traffic controller at Reagan ordered “corrective instructions” to both the Delta Airbus and the T-38 pilots. The incident was two months after a collision of an airliner and an Army helicopter near Reagan. The death toll: 67 persons with no survivors.
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Talon. The Air Force flies T-38 Talons for high-altitude training and aerobatics. The four-plane formation in the Reagan incident originated from 70 miles away at the Langley air base. Beginning in 1959 the Air Force purchased 1,100 Talons from manufacturer Northrop, of which 546 remain in service. Production ended in 1972. The plane has twin jet engines and can fly 800 mph.