Posted on 07/25/2025 6:11:44 PM PDT by george76
A Southwest flight that departed Burbank, California, en route to Las Vegas, Nevada, nosedived to avoid a mid-air collision on Friday.
Two flight attendants were injured after the plane quickly descended to avoid colliding with a Hawker Hunter.
“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,” ABC News reported.
Passengers reportedly flew out of their seats.
ABC News posted the flight tracker showing the near miss:
...
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.
A terrified passenger described what happened the moment the Southwest plane quickly descended to avoid collision.
“About 10 minutes into the flight, we plummeted pretty far, and I looked around, and everyone was like, ‘OK, that’s normal’,
“Then, within two seconds, it felt like the ride Tower of Terror, where we fell 20 to 30 feet in the air. The screaming, it was terrifying. We really thought we were plummeting to a plane crash
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A combo of dei, quiet quitting, general incompetence and deliberateness.
Best to avoid a mid-air crash.
Were they able to largely walk away from the landing?
Jimmy Dore was on that flight and tweeted this right after it happened
Just now on SW Flight #1496 Burbank to Las Vegas.
Pilot had to dive aggressively to avoid midair collision over Burbank airport.
Myself & Plenty of people flew out of their seats & bumped heads on ceiling, a flight attendant needed medical attention.
Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us.
Wow.
https://x.com/jimmy_dore/status/1948841786765705392
Thanks
A Hawker Hunter?
Someone is in trouble
At only 14 K I'm sure the seatbelt light was still aluminated.
Close call.
Thank God the pilot wasn’t a DEI hire.
Wondering about the Air Traffic Controller, though.
Wondering, too, who owns the Hawker.
That’s why you have to stay on constant alert even when you’re flying on autopilot.
I take that back, apparently they weren’t yet on autopilot.
We stopped flying years ago. Much rather see the USA in our Chevrolet.
That said, I ALWAYS kept the seat belt fastened in flight. If we ever fly again, we will continue to keep the seat belt well fastened.
What was a Hawker Hunter—a Korean War-era jet fighter—doing in the skies over California in 2025?
I always wear my seatbelt
Perhaps somebody confused meters and feet.
This is kind of crazy.
You and Dinah Shore.
Which is why its’s wise to wear your seatbelt when seated even at cruising height.
Let’s hope they weren’t going to an airshow.
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