Three planes nearly collided at Reagan National Airport on Tuesday afternoon when an aircraft that was about to land flew head-on toward two jets that had just taken off, The Washington Post reported.
The air traffic control center in Warrenton wanted to change the path of incoming planes due to a wind shift caused by an approaching storms. The control tower at the airport agreed but didn't relay the information to all the necessary people, according to the newspaper.
The three planes were operated by US Airways and had 192 passengers and crew members.
The Federal Aviation Administration told The Associated Press that, according to preliminary information, the plane that was landing came within 500 vertical feet and 1.7 lateral miles of one of the departing jets and 600 vertical feet and 2.8 lateral miles of the other. It is standard for planes to be at least 1,000 vertical feet and 3.5 lateral miles apart from each other.