Mariah Cain, Staff Writer
A plane from Southwest and a plane from JetBlue nearly collided on Thursday morning at Reagan National Airport. Both planes received clearance from their controllers. The Federal Aviation Administration stated that they would investigate the incident.
U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released a statement saying, “Today’s near crash at DCA is a horrifying example of why it’s crucial that we beat back efforts to undermine slot and perimeter rules for our capital region airports.” The statement continues, “DCA’s overburdened runway is already the busiest in the country—and we fear that adding more flights could put passenger safety at serious jeopardy. We are thankful there was no loss of life or injuries, but this close call is unacceptable and we must ensure even near misses never occur again. To state the obvious: passenger safety should be a higher priority than whether some lawmakers have a direct flight home from DCA.”
