Passengers aboard a Southwest Airlines flight out of Burbank described frightening moments when the plane rapidly descended shortly after takeoff to avoid a mid-air collision Friday.
About six minutes after Southwest flight 1496 took off from Hollywood Burbank Airport toward Las Vegas, it abruptly descended 475 feet – from 14,100 feet to 13,625 feet, according to FlightRadar24.
A viewer from Woodland Hills who was on that flight reached out to ABC7 as soon as the plane landed safely in Vegas. He said the pilot told him there was a collision avoidance alert and that’s what caused the drop.
Two flight attendants were injured in the incident, Southwest Airlines said.
The other plane, a Hawker Hunter with the N number N335AX, was at an altitude of approximately 14,653 feet when the Southwest flight began to descend. The planes were 4.86 miles apart at their closest point, according to FlightRadar24.
When a plane’s collision avoidance system detects a possible collision, the plane will either go down or up and the other plane will do the opposite. Preliminary data shows the planes were several miles apart when the pilots received their alerts.
Steve Ulasewicz, another passenger on the flight, said that they experienced what felt like a “significant drop.” He told ABC News the pilot announced that they had performed the maneuver to “avoid a mid-air collision.”
“There was about, I would say, an 8- to 10-second drop of free fall,” Ulasewicz said. “Never experienced that. Everybody in the plane started screaming. Definitely felt like that was it. Like this is how I’m going to go out.”
Southwest Airlines released a statement on Flight 1496 that said in part:
“Southwest is engaged 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. 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.”
