DOGE CUTS
US Plane suddenly drops 500 feet to ‘avoid mid-air collision’ with British jet fighterJessica Kwong
July 26, 2025
METRO UK
A Southwest Airlines plane dove 500 feet to avoid crashing into a Hawker Hunter (Picture: Shutterstock)
A Southwest Airlines plane abruptly dropped about 500 feet reportedly to avoid a mid-air collision with a British jet fighter.
Flight 1496 plummeted from 14,100 feet to 13,625 feet only six minutes after departing from Hollywood Burbank Airport in California on Friday, flightRadar24 shows.
Passenger Steve Ulasewicz said he ‘felt a significant drop’ that lasted eight to 10 seconds and that ‘the plane was just in a freefall’.
‘People were screaming,’ Ulasewicz told NBCLA.
A Southwest Airlines plane abruptly dropped about 500 feet reportedly to avoid a mid-air collision with a British jet fighter.
Flight 1496 plummeted from 14,100 feet to 13,625 feet only six minutes after departing from Hollywood Burbank Airport in California on Friday, flightRadar24 shows.
Passenger Steve Ulasewicz said he ‘felt a significant drop’ that lasted eight to 10 seconds and that ‘the plane was just in a freefall’.
‘People were screaming,’ Ulasewicz told NBCLA.
A Hawker Hunter was flying at an altitude of about 14,653 feet when the Southwest plane started descending (Picture: Getty Images)
‘It was pandemonium.’
He said the pilot announced that the plane used software to avoid getting into a mid-air collision.
A Hawker Hunter, N number N335AX, was flying at an altitude of about 14,653 feet when the Southwest airplane started to descend.
Several Hawker Hunter jets were in the area conducting a routine operation at the time of the incident, a source told ABC News.
‘It was pandemonium.’
He said the pilot announced that the plane used software to avoid getting into a mid-air collision.
A Hawker Hunter, N number N335AX, was flying at an altitude of about 14,653 feet when the Southwest airplane started to descend.
Several Hawker Hunter jets were in the area conducting a routine operation at the time of the incident, a source told ABC News.
Southwest Airline Flight 1496 continued on its journey after the terrifying incident and landed safely in Las Vegas (Picture: FlightAware)
Planes are equipped with collision avoidance systems that guide them to go down or up as the other aircraft is expected to go the opposite direction.
The Southwest plane and the British jet fighter were several miles from each other when the pilots received the alerts to move positions, according to preliminary data.
Southwest stated that it was in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration to ‘further understand the circumstances’.
‘No injuries were immediately reported by Customers, but two Flight Attendants are being treated for injuries,’ stated the airline.
‘We appreciate the professionalism of our Flight Crew and Flight Attendants in responding to this event.
‘Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.’
Ulasewicz he saw an injured flight attendant receive attention from medical personnel immediately after the plane landed safely in Las Vegas, its intended destination.
The frightening incident happened nearly six months after American Airlines Flight 5342 collided mid-air with a military Black Hawk aircraft and both sunk in the Potomac River in Washington, DC, killing all 67 people on board.
Planes are equipped with collision avoidance systems that guide them to go down or up as the other aircraft is expected to go the opposite direction.
The Southwest plane and the British jet fighter were several miles from each other when the pilots received the alerts to move positions, according to preliminary data.
Southwest stated that it was in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration to ‘further understand the circumstances’.
‘No injuries were immediately reported by Customers, but two Flight Attendants are being treated for injuries,’ stated the airline.
‘We appreciate the professionalism of our Flight Crew and Flight Attendants in responding to this event.
‘Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.’
Ulasewicz he saw an injured flight attendant receive attention from medical personnel immediately after the plane landed safely in Las Vegas, its intended destination.
The frightening incident happened nearly six months after American Airlines Flight 5342 collided mid-air with a military Black Hawk aircraft and both sunk in the Potomac River in Washington, DC, killing all 67 people on board.
Southwest flight plummets, injuring flight attendants
1 hour ago
Max Matza
BBC News
4 days ago
Ana Faguy
BBC News
A Delta regional jet pilot was forced to make an "aggressive" evasive manoeuvre to avoid a potential mid-air collision with a US military aircraft before landing in North Dakota.
The pilot, who identified the aircraft as a B-52 bomber, is heard in video recordings shared on social media saying it was "kind of, sort of coming at us". "So, sorry about the aggressive manoeuvre," he says.
Delta Air Lines regional jet SkyWest Flight 3788 was en route from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Minot, North Dakota on Friday, the airline said.
"We took a really hard right turn, we were completely sideways," Monica Green, a woman on the flight who recorded the audio told the BBC. "I was facing the grass."
"We had no idea what was going on, we didn't know if there was anything wrong with the plane or if the sharp turns would continue," Ms Green said.
As soon as the plane became level again, the passengers went quiet, she said.
The aircraft landed safely "after being cleared for approach" but "performed a go-around when another aircraft became visible in their flight path", the SkyWest Airlines said in a statement.
After the plane landed, the pilot came out from the cockpit and explained to the passengers that the tower instructed him to turn right but that when he looked over, he saw a B-52 bomber.
At that point he was instructed to turn left but said he looked over and "saw the airplane that was kind of coming on a converging course with us".
The pilot told the passengers that the other aircraft was moving faster than the SkyWest plane, so he made the decision to turn behind it.
"It caught me by surprise," he said. "This is not normal at all. I don't know why they didn't give us a heads up."
He concluded his message with an apology: "Long story short, it was not fun, but I do apologize for it - and thank you for understanding." Passengers responded with applause, the video shows.
SkyWest Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident.
1 hour ago
Max Matza
BBC News
Getty Images
A Southwest Airlines plane rapidly dropped in elevation after departing from the Los Angeles area on Friday, with passengers posting online that the pilot was forced to rapidly change course to avoid a potential collision with another aircraft.
Flight 1496 from Hollywood Burbank Airport to Las Vegas plummeted rapidly, lifting passengers out of their seats and injuring two flight attendants.
The crew "responded to two onboard traffic alerts... requiring them to climb and descend to comply with the alerts", Southwest said in a statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was investigating the "incident". It comes less than one week after a similar near-miss.
"Ensuring the safety of everyone in the national airspace system remains our top priority," the FAA statement added.
Stand-up comedian Jimmy Dore was onboard the plane, and was among the passengers saying that the erratic move was due to a near-miss with another plane.
"Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us. Wow," Dore wrote on X. "A flight attendant needed medical attention."
His colleague Stef Zamorano added that all the passengers applauded when the plane landed.
Caitlin Burdi told Fox News that passengers were "screaming" as the plane rapidly fell.
"It was terrifying. We really thought we were plummeting to a plane crash," she said.
She added that the pilot came over the speaker afterwards to say that the plane had almost hit another plane, and that they had lost contact with air traffic control.
"I just remember him saying, 'What just happened was we almost collided with another plane, and I had to make the emergency attempt to go under because we lost service with the air traffic controller,'" she said.
According to CNN, the plane was nearly intercepted by a privately owned Hawker Hunter fighter jet after less than six minutes in the air.
The jet crossed less than two miles in front of it, and within a few hundred feet of its altitude, CNN reported, citing flight tracking data. It had departed from El Pas, Texas and was flying to Oxnard, California.
The Southwest statement said that the flight continued on to Las Vegas, "where it landed uneventfully", and that the airline is "engaged" with the FAA "to further understand the circumstances".
"We appreciate the professionalism of our Flight Crew and Flight Attendants in responding to this event. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees."
It comes less than one week after a Delta regional flight from Minneapolis was forced to make a sudden evasive manoeuvre to avoid a US military bomber.
Delta flight makes 'aggressive manoeuvre' to avoid collision with military aircraft
A Southwest Airlines plane rapidly dropped in elevation after departing from the Los Angeles area on Friday, with passengers posting online that the pilot was forced to rapidly change course to avoid a potential collision with another aircraft.
Flight 1496 from Hollywood Burbank Airport to Las Vegas plummeted rapidly, lifting passengers out of their seats and injuring two flight attendants.
The crew "responded to two onboard traffic alerts... requiring them to climb and descend to comply with the alerts", Southwest said in a statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was investigating the "incident". It comes less than one week after a similar near-miss.
"Ensuring the safety of everyone in the national airspace system remains our top priority," the FAA statement added.
Stand-up comedian Jimmy Dore was onboard the plane, and was among the passengers saying that the erratic move was due to a near-miss with another plane.
"Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us. Wow," Dore wrote on X. "A flight attendant needed medical attention."
His colleague Stef Zamorano added that all the passengers applauded when the plane landed.
Caitlin Burdi told Fox News that passengers were "screaming" as the plane rapidly fell.
"It was terrifying. We really thought we were plummeting to a plane crash," she said.
She added that the pilot came over the speaker afterwards to say that the plane had almost hit another plane, and that they had lost contact with air traffic control.
"I just remember him saying, 'What just happened was we almost collided with another plane, and I had to make the emergency attempt to go under because we lost service with the air traffic controller,'" she said.
According to CNN, the plane was nearly intercepted by a privately owned Hawker Hunter fighter jet after less than six minutes in the air.
The jet crossed less than two miles in front of it, and within a few hundred feet of its altitude, CNN reported, citing flight tracking data. It had departed from El Pas, Texas and was flying to Oxnard, California.
The Southwest statement said that the flight continued on to Las Vegas, "where it landed uneventfully", and that the airline is "engaged" with the FAA "to further understand the circumstances".
"We appreciate the professionalism of our Flight Crew and Flight Attendants in responding to this event. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees."
It comes less than one week after a Delta regional flight from Minneapolis was forced to make a sudden evasive manoeuvre to avoid a US military bomber.
Delta flight makes 'aggressive manoeuvre' to avoid collision with military aircraft
4 days ago
Ana Faguy
BBC News
A Delta regional jet pilot was forced to make an "aggressive" evasive manoeuvre to avoid a potential mid-air collision with a US military aircraft before landing in North Dakota.
The pilot, who identified the aircraft as a B-52 bomber, is heard in video recordings shared on social media saying it was "kind of, sort of coming at us". "So, sorry about the aggressive manoeuvre," he says.
Delta Air Lines regional jet SkyWest Flight 3788 was en route from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Minot, North Dakota on Friday, the airline said.
"We took a really hard right turn, we were completely sideways," Monica Green, a woman on the flight who recorded the audio told the BBC. "I was facing the grass."
"We had no idea what was going on, we didn't know if there was anything wrong with the plane or if the sharp turns would continue," Ms Green said.
As soon as the plane became level again, the passengers went quiet, she said.
The aircraft landed safely "after being cleared for approach" but "performed a go-around when another aircraft became visible in their flight path", the SkyWest Airlines said in a statement.
After the plane landed, the pilot came out from the cockpit and explained to the passengers that the tower instructed him to turn right but that when he looked over, he saw a B-52 bomber.
At that point he was instructed to turn left but said he looked over and "saw the airplane that was kind of coming on a converging course with us".
The pilot told the passengers that the other aircraft was moving faster than the SkyWest plane, so he made the decision to turn behind it.
"It caught me by surprise," he said. "This is not normal at all. I don't know why they didn't give us a heads up."
He concluded his message with an apology: "Long story short, it was not fun, but I do apologize for it - and thank you for understanding." Passengers responded with applause, the video shows.
SkyWest Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident.
No comments:
Post a Comment