Passengers aboard a Southwest Airways jet from Burbank to Las Vegas say their pilot needed to “aggressively” dive to keep away from a midair collision with one other aircraft shortly after takeoff on Friday afternoon.
In line with flight information, Southwest Flight 1496 departed the Hollywood Burbank Airport at 11:58 a.m.
Among the many passengers was slapstick comedian Jimmy Dore, who wrote in an X publish that he and others “flew out of their seats” in the course of the sudden maneuver, with some purportedly hitting their heads on the ceiling.
“Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us. Wow,” Dore wrote. “A flight attendant needed medical attention.”
Dore’s govt producer, Stef Zamorano, posted a short video on X the place she first described it as “crazy turbulence,” earlier than Dore chimed in and defined what passengers have been instructed.
FlightAware reveals SW 1496 dipped about 300 ft in elevation at 12:03 p.m.
One other X consumer named Steve U. stated he was additionally a passenger on Southwest flight #1496 and claimed the aircraft dove hundreds of ft to keep away from one other plane. “People were screaming as the plane dove. A flight attendant is being looked at right now with an ice pack on her head.”
Southwest Airways later issued a press release, saying its crew responded to “two onboard traffic alerts,” however didn’t affirm the character of the incident.
“The Crew of Southwest Flight 1496 responded to two onboard traffic alerts Friday afternoon while climbing out of Burbank, Cal., requiring them to climb and descend to comply with the alerts,” said Southwest Airways. “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.”
Southwest Airways stated the flight continued to Las Vegas, “where it landed uneventfully.”
KTLA has reached out to the FAA for remark.
Nidia Becerra, Luis Zuniga and Marc Sternfield contributed to this report.
