Minutes after takeoff Friday, a Southwest flight leaving Burbank, California, rapidly descended because another aircraft was in the area, injuring two flight attendants and frightening passengers, according to officials and those on board.
“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 Federal Aviation Administration said. The incident occurred around 11 a.m.
Two onboard alerts required the flight "to climb and descend," Southwest Airlines said in a statement.
An aviation industry source told NBC News the Southwest crew was initially told to climb to 15,000 feet, but when the plane reached 12,000 feet, air traffic controllers adjusted their initial altitude and told the pilot to level off at 14,000 feet.
The source said that soon thereafter, because of conflicting traffic, ATC "issued a turn of over 60 degrees," during which the crew received an alert from the traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) telling them to climb, which they did. Immediately following the climb, they got another TCAS alert instructing them to descend.
The other plane involved in the traffic alert and collision avoidance system alert was a Hawker Hunter MK 58 single-seat fighter jet, a source familiar with the situation said. That jet is registered to a company, FAA records show.
Passengers said they were shaken by the incident, and one said he thought the plane was going to crash.
“Pilot had to dive aggressively to avoid midair collision over Burbank airport,” comedian Jimmy Dore said on X. “Myself & Plenty of people flew out of their seats & bumped heads on ceiling, a flight attendant needed medical attention.”
Passenger Steve Ulasewicz told NBC Los Angeles that the incident happened about eight minutes into the flight and passengers felt “a significant drop for about two seconds,” which he attributed to turbulence.
“Then maybe like three seconds after that the plane was in a freefall” for around eight to 10 seconds, he told the station by phone. “People were screaming. You know, it was pandemonium. People thought the plane was going down.”
The plane continued on to Las Vegas and landed without any further incident, Southwest Airlines said.
“No injuries were immediately reported by Customers, but two Flight Attendants are being treated for injuries,” it said.
A spokesperson for Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas said that medical personnel responded to the gate and one injured person was transported to a hospital.
FAA records show that the Hawker Hunter is registered to a company in Newark, Delaware. NBC News has emailed the company to confirm that the Hawker Hunter was its aircraft.
