Southwest aircraft takes a dive to avoid midair collision
A Southwest Airlines flight dropped several hundred feet in a matter of seconds to avoid a midair collision, after the Federal Aviation Administration said pilots were alerted to another aircraft’s presence in the area.
Southwest Flight 1496 was en route Friday to Las Vegas from Hollywood Burbank Airport when just six minutes after takeoff, the aircraft took a nearly 500 foot plunge to comply with traffic alerts issued to the pilots.
“Southwest Airlines Flight 1496 responded to an onboard alert that another aircraft was in the vicinity while in Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center airspace,” the FAA said in a Friday statement.
The agency said it was investigating the incident and on Saturday, said it did not have additional information to provide on the process.
Data from the live flight tracking website Flightradar24 shows the Southwest Boeing 737 make its ascent just before noon on Friday.
At the same time in the same airspace, a decommissioned Hawker Hunter Mk.58 fighter jet was making its journey to Point Mugu Naval Air Station in Ventura County, Ca., Flightradar24 shows.
Flightradar 24 shows that The Southwest flight dropped from 14,100 feet to 13,600 feet.
Southwest said that no customers reported injuries. One flight attendant was treated for minor injuries and another was transported to a hospital after landing, according to airline spokesman Lynn Lunsford.
The flight, the airline said, continued to Las Vegas where it landed “uneventfully.”
Comedian Jimmy Dore wrote on social media that he had been on the Southwest flight and described the “aggressive” midair dive the plane took.
“Myself & plenty of people flew out of their seats & bumped heads on ceiling,” he wrote. “Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us. Wow.”
The Friday incident comes after a midair collision earlier this year between a Black Hawk Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet over the D.C. region that left 67 people dead.
That incident highlighted failures by the FAA to respond to the yearslong shortage of air traffic controllers. The criticisms against the agency were worsened by President Trump’s decision to lay off hundreds of FAA employees as part of his pledge to reduce the federal workforce.
The FAA has said that none of the positions eliminated have been related to air safety.
“Safety critical positions have and will continue to be exempt from any hiring freezes or deferred resignation programs,” spokesman Steve Kulm said.
“In addition to retaining these employees, the FAA has actually expanded hiring and onboarding for air traffic controllers and safety professionals – including safety inspectors, mechanics and others who support them.”
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