Shocking plunge by Southwest flight from Southern California was to avoid another aircraft
The Federal Aviation Administration said the flight, Southwest 1496, was responding to an on board alert about another aircraft in its vicinity. The FAA is investigating. Southwest said the crew responded to two alerts that required the pilot to climb then descend. The flight left Hollywood Burbank Airport just before noon.
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
Another passenger, comedian Stef Zamorano, said she saw a woman who wasn't wearing her seat belt shoot up and out of her seat, and a man next to her was clutching her arm. A woman across the aisle was panicking, she said.
Advertisement
'She was pretty much verbalizing how we all felt, saying, 'I want to get off this plane. I want to be on the ground',' Zamorano told The Associated Press on Friday. Another woman was panicking and saying she wanted 'to get off this plane.'
The plane was in the same airspace near Burbank as a Hawker Hunter Mk. 58, according to the flight tracking site, FlightAware. Records show it is owned by Hawker Hunter Aviation, a British defense contracting company.
Advertisement
The company didn't respond to messages on Friday and Saturday seeking comment.
Southwest said the flight continued to Las Vegas, 'where it landed uneventfully.' The airline said that it is working with the FAA 'to further understand the circumstances' of the event.
This close call is just the latest incident to raise questions about aviation safety in the wake of January's midair collision over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Leave All Carry-On Items Behind' During An Emergency Plane Evacuation Does Not Mean 'Grab Your Bags First', You Dinguses
It seems like every couple of days, a commercial flight makes the news over something that went wrong, and that's even before you account for all the small, private plane crashes. In one of the most recent examples, CNN reports an American Airlines flight leaving Denver International was evacuated prior to takeoff after experiencing a "possible landing gear incident." The good news is, everyone got off the plane with only one reported injury. The bad news is, a video of the evacuation showed many passengers ignored crewmember instructions and grabbed their bags before leaving the plane. That, my friends, is what we call "a bad idea," and it's not just because you're supposed to follow all crew orders. You're supposed to leave your bags on the plane during an emergency evacuation because it slows you down, and in turn, lengthens how long it takes to get everyone else off the plane. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, commercial aircraft need to be able to be fully evacuated in 90 seconds or less, but according to CNN, evacuating this American Airlines flight took 10 to 15 minutes. Yikes. Thankfully, the brake fire that broke out as a result of the landing gear issue wasn't big enough to take the entire plane with it, but that also isn't something you're going to know when the crew gives the order to evacuate the plane. And when they say to leave all carry-on items behind, they're serious. You get up, get off the plane and worry about your designer luggage, laptop and charger cables later. Pausing to grab your bags doesn't just make you selfish. It makes you a danger to everyone else on the plane. Read more: These Are The Worst Tire Recalls In Recent History Leave Everything Behind The good news is, as you can see in the video above, not everyone on board ignored crew instructions. Some people did what they were told and left their bags on board, but you can also see that wasn't the case for far too many of them. And even if you care more about your bags than other people getting off the plane safely, there's another lesson to be learned here, too. Going down the emergency slide and landing gracefully on your feet at the bottom isn't exactly guaranteed, but it looks like the passengers carrying their bags had a much harder time doing so than everyone else. So, even in a situation like this one, where passengers taking at least 10 minutes to evacuate the plane didn't prove deadly, you significantly increase your chances of injuring yourself on the tarmac when you lose your balance. You also run the risk of your luggage puncturing the slide on your way out, potentially injuring other passengers and making it far more difficult for the crew to manage the evacuation. As the video above points out, even if you travel with nice luggage, the Department of Transportation requires airlines to cover any damage to your bags while they're under the airlines' control. So even if the entire plane burned up and took your luggage with it, you'd still be entitled to compensation for what you lost. It's also just stuff, and stuff can be replaced. People, on the other hand, are much more difficult to replace, and prioritizing your personal convenience over other people's lives is bad, actually. If the crew announces an emergency evacuation, just leave your bags. It'll be fine, and no bag is worth risking someone else's life. If that isn't a good enough reason for you, at least leave your bags behind so you don't get mocked for your bad behavior online. Surely, you don't want that, right? Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
7 injured after small plane crashes into car in Florida
A small plane clipped a tree before skimming the top of a car, then crashing in a park on Monday, resulting in seven people being transported to the hospital, according to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Two people were on board the Orlican M8 Eagle, a small single-engine aircraft, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said two people were Trauma Alert criteria and were transported to the Palm Beach County Trauma Center. The five people in the car, one adult and four children, were transported to a local hospital for evaluation. MORE: 2 children dead after barge strikes sailboat from youth sailing program: Officials Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said there was no fire and no large fuel leak. The aircraft sustained "extreme damage" to the nose and the vehicle had minor damage to the roof. The plane crashed in a neighborhood in Lake Worth, Florida, according to the FAA. The incident occurred around 4:45 p.m. MORE: Small plane crashes in Boca Raton, Florida; all 3 on board killed According to the flight track on FlightRadar24, the plane crashed right after takeoff. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will both investigate. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
8 hours ago
7 injured after small plane crashes into car in Florida
The small single-engine aircraft, crashed right after takeoff, the FAA said. By 1:12 A small plane clipped a tree before skimming the top of a car, then crashing in a park on Monday, resulting in seven people being transported to the hospital, according to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Two people were on board the Orlican M8 Eagle, a small single-engine aircraft, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said two people were Trauma Alert criteria and were transported to the Palm Beach County Trauma Center. The five people in the car, one adult and four children, were transported to a local hospital for evaluation. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said there was no fire and no large fuel leak. The aircraft sustained "extreme damage" to the nose and the vehicle had minor damage to the roof. The plane crashed in a neighborhood in Lake Worth, Florida, according to the FAA. The incident occurred around 4:45 p.m. According to the flight track on FlightRadar24, the plane crashed right after takeoff. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will both investigate.
