Plane Reported Near President’s Craft; Reagan in No Danger

A commuter plane and Air Force One may have flown too close to one another on Wednesday while President Reagan was traveling from Philadelphia to Newark, N.J., but the President was in no danger, officials said.

The two planes came no closer than 2 miles horizontally and 500 feet vertically, according to a preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration.

“The President was not in danger at any point,” White House spokesman Mark Weinberg said. Spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the President was not aware of the incident until later.

FAA spokesman Bob Buckhorn said the incident occurred at 2:35 p.m., northwest of Trenton, N.J.

“We’re investigating a possible operational error with a Bar Harbor Airlines aircraft,” Buckhorn said. “We are not talking about a near miss. Preliminary reports indicate there may have been an operational error.”