A Southwest Airways airplane takes off from Hollywood Burbank Airport. On Friday, a Southwest airplane leaving from the identical location had a near-miss with one other plane.
Mario Tama/Getty Photographs North America
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Mario Tama/Getty Photographs North America
A Southwest Airways flight dropped a number of hundred ft in a matter of seconds to keep away from a midair collision, after the Federal Aviation Administration mentioned pilots had been alerted to a different plane’s presence within the space.
Southwest Flight 1496 was en route Friday to Las Vegas from Hollywood Burbank Airport when simply six minutes after takeoff, the plane took an almost 500 foot plunge to adjust to site visitors alerts issued to the pilots.
“Southwest Airways Flight 1496 responded to an onboard alert that one other plane was within the neighborhood whereas in Los Angeles Air Route Visitors Management Middle airspace,” the FAA mentioned in a Friday assertion.
The company mentioned it was investigating the incident and on Saturday, mentioned it didn’t have further info to offer on the method.
Information from the reside flight monitoring web site Flightradar24 reveals the Southwest Boeing 737 make its ascent simply earlier than midday on Friday.
On the similar time in the identical airspace, a decommissioned Hawker Hunter Mk.58 fighter jet was making its journey to Level Mugu Naval Air Station in Ventura County, Ca., Flightradar24 reveals.
Flightradar 24 reveals that The Southwest flight dropped from 14,100 ft to 13,600 ft.
Southwest mentioned that no prospects reported accidents. One flight attendant was handled for minor accidents and one other was transported to a hospital after touchdown, based on airline spokesman Lynn Lunsford.
The flight, the airline mentioned, continued to Las Vegas the place it landed “uneventfully.”
Comic Jimmy Dore wrote on social media that he had been on the Southwest flight and described the “aggressive” midair dive the airplane took.
“Myself & loads of folks flew out of their seats & bumped heads on ceiling,” he wrote. “Pilot mentioned his collision warning went off & he wanted to keep away from airplane coming at us. Wow.”
The Friday incident comes after a midair collision earlier this yr between a Black Hawk Military helicopter and an American Airways regional jet over the D.C. area that left 67 folks useless.
That incident highlighted failures by the FAA to answer the yearslong scarcity of air site visitors controllers. The criticisms in opposition to the company had been worsened by President Trump’s resolution to put off tons of of FAA staff as a part of his pledge to cut back the federal workforce.
The FAA has mentioned that not one of the positions eradicated have been associated to air security.
“Security crucial positions have and can proceed to be exempt from any hiring freezes or deferred resignation applications,” spokesman Steve Kulm mentioned.
“Along with retaining these staff, the FAA has truly expanded hiring and onboarding for air site visitors controllers and security professionals – together with security inspectors, mechanics and others who help them.”
