The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating why multiple commercial flights about to land at Reagan National Airport, near Washington D.C., repeatedly received midair collision alerts when there were no other aircraft nearby.

In one blitz just after 9 a.m., six similar false alerts were reported within 11 minutes of each other, according to the news station.

Fatal accidents involving airliners are thankfully rare events, so a trio of high-profile losses within a few weeks - including a collision over Washington, DC - naturally drew attention.

An American Airlines flight suddenly delayed its landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Feb. 25 as it arrived to see another plane taking off on the same runway.