2 Southwest Airlines flight attendants cause injury after plane descends to avoid collision
Authorities and passengers said a Southwest Airlines plane from Southern California to Las Vegas conducted a dramatic attack shortly after taking off Friday in response to alarms about nearby planes that injured two flight attendants.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Southwest Flight 1496 is responding to onboard alerts about another aircraft nearby. The FAA is investigating.
The airline said in a statement that the crew responded to two air alerts asking the pilot to climb down. The flight departs from Hollywood Burbank Airport before noon locally.
Passengers posted on social media that the plane dropped sharply shortly after takeoff. Data from flight tracking site Fliefaware shows it dropped by about 91 meters in 36 seconds.
“The pilot said his collision warning happened and he needed to avoid the plane heading towards us,” said comedian Jimmy Dore, who is in the air, posted on X.
“I myself and many people flew out of my seat and hit the head over my head, and the stewardess needed medical care.”
Jets and British fighters in the same airspace
Flightaware shows that the plane is in the same airspace as the Hawk Hunter MK. 58 After noon locally. Hawker Hunter is a British fighter.
Records show that the aircraft is owned by British defence contractor Hawker Hunter Aviation Ltd. The company did not immediately respond to news seeking comments.
Neither the control towers and operations departments that track the planes depart and arrive at the planes have any records of Southwest flights that have fallen in their airspace, said Mike Christensen, a spokesman for the Hollywood Burbank Airport.
Southwest said the flight continued to Las Vegas and “it landed unceremoniously.” The airline said it is working with the FAA to “get more aware of the situation”.
The close call was just the latest incident about aviation safety issues following an air crash in Washington, D.C. in January, killing 67 people.
