A Southwest flight rapidly descended 475 feet to avoid a Hawker Hunter aircraft on Friday, according to flight tracking data and passengers on the plane.
About six minutes after Southwest flight 1496 took off from Hollywood Burbank Airport in Los Angeles County, it abruptly descended from 14,100 feet to 13,625 feet, according to flightRadar24.
Steve Ulasewicz, a passenger on the flight who said that they experienced what felt like a “significant drop,” told ABC News the pilot announced that they had performed the maneuver to “avoid a midair collision.”
Southwest Airlines said in a statement that two flight attendants are being treated for injuries after the incident.
In this Sept. 1, 2019, stock image, a Southwest Airlines aircraft approachese San Francisco International Airport.
STOCK IMAGE/Getty Images
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.
A source told ABC News, there were multiple Hawker Hunter aircraft in the area doing a normal operation at the time.
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.
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.
