In the Nation

WASHINGTON - There was a close call between a military helicopter and a regional airliner attempting to land at Reagan National Airport around 4 p.m. Friday, federal officials said Sunday.

At their closest point, the two aircraft were flying at the same altitude and were only 950 feet apart laterally, said Eric Weiss, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating.

Republic Airlines flight 3281 had descended to 400 feet when the helicopter, which had been flying lower and ahead of the plane, briefly rose to 400 feet, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

The airline pilot aborted the landing, circled around, and landed safely. - AP

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. - The founder and president of a Connecticut military museum was shot and killed at his home by police after he pointed a handgun at officers, state police said Sunday.

John Valluzzo, 75, was armed when police arrived at his home after a call about a possible domestic incident Friday evening, state police said. They said he was shot after he refused to put the gun down and instead raised it on officers. Valluzzo was pronounced dead at a hospital. State police are investigating.

The Hearst Connecticut Media Group said Valluzzo was a decorated Korean War veteran and founded the Military Museum of Southern New England in 1995. - AP

EPHRATAH, N.Y. - Police say they are still searching for one of two passengers aboard an Angel Flight that crashed in Upstate New York. They now say the pilot was among the two already found dead.

Sgt. Brian Van Nostrand of the Fulton County Sheriff's Office says a cancer patient and his wife were aboard with the pilot of the twin-engine aircraft that went down Friday evening in Ephratah. He said Sunday that the bodies of the pilot and female passenger have been found, but they are still searching for the patient. Police had previously said the two passengers were found dead. - AP

A Missouri highway overpass that partially collapsed when rail cars smashed into one of its support pillars after a cargo train collision was about 15 years old and in good condition but just couldn't withstand the impact, a sheriff said. Seven people in two cars on the overpass were injured, none seriously, when two 40-foot sections of the overpass crumpled Saturday.

Temporary spans will be installed across the Skagit River in Washington state where an interstate highway span collapsed into the water last week, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Sunday. He said he hopes the spans, each with two lanes for northbound and southbound traffic, will be finished in about three weeks. The spans will be built elsewhere and trucked in.