WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. National

Transportation Safety Board said on Monday it will investigate a

close call between a Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) plane and a group

of Air Force jets near Reagan Washington National Airport last

week.

The Delta Airbus A319 received a cockpit collision warning

alert that another aircraft was nearby, and controllers issued

corrective instructions to both aircraft. The Delta flight had

been cleared to depart as four U.S. Air Force T-38 Talons were

inbound to nearby Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration

said on Friday

it would investigate the incident, which occurred earlier

that day.

It followed a

mid-air collision

on January 29 near the same airport involving a passenger

jet and a U.S. Army helicopter, which killed 67 people in the

first deadly U.S. passenger airline crash in 16 years.

A Delta spokesman on Monday reiterated that the carrier

would fully cooperate with the investigations, and that its

flight crew had followed procedures to maneuver the aircraft as

instructed.

A series of troubling near-miss incidents over the past two

years has raised concerns about U.S. aviation safety and the

strain on understaffed air traffic control operations.