US Plane Plunges 500 Feet In 'Freefall' To Dodge Mid-Air Collision: 'People Were Screaming'
A commercial Southwest Airlines jet suddenly plummeted 475 feet in about 10 seconds to avoid a mid-air collision with an Hawker Hunter plane.
A commercial Southwest Airlines jet suddenly plummeted nearly 500 feet to avoid a possibly fatal mid-air collision, shortly after taking off from a Los Angeles airport on Friday, with a frightened passenger saying the aircraft was in a 'freefall".
Southwest Flight 1496, a Boeing 737, dropped 475 feet – from 14,100 feet to 13,625 feet – just six minutes after taking off from Hollywood Burbank Airport, according to FlightRadar24 data. A passenger, identified as Steve Ulasewicz, told ABC News that the drastic step was carried out to avoid a mid-air collision.
'Felt a significant drop. The plane was just in a freefall. People were screaming. It was pandemonium," he said, adding that passengers screamed as the plane dropped for about 10 seconds. Comedian Jimmy Dore was on the flight, relaying that he and several other flyers were tossed about the cabin during the startling descent.
'Pilot had to dive aggressively to avoid midair collision over Burbank airport. Myself & Plenty of people flew out of their seats & bumped heads on the ceiling, a flight attendant needed medical attention," he said on X. 'Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us."
In a statement, Southwest said the flight continued to its destination of Las Vegas, 'where it landed uneventfully." The airline added that it is working with the Federal Aviation Administration 'to further understand the circumstances" of the event. The pilot told passengers in an onboard update after the scare that the plane used software to make the evasive move, according to Ulasewicz.
'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. 'The FAA is investigating the event that occurred around 11 am local time on Friday, July 25."
Another aircraft, a Hawker Hunter plane, was near the Southwest plane at approximately 14,633 feet. Southwest reported that two flight attendants sustained injuries during the urgent, life-saving manoeuvre, while all passengers remained unharmed, according to the New York Post.
The pilots of the Hawker Hunter said they sighted the Southwest plane, but were not properly instructed by air traffic control, sources told ABC News. The plane is owned by Hunter Aviation International, a UK Military Aviation Authority, according to FlightRadar data.
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