Passengers aboard Southwest flight 1496 from Burbank, California to Las Vegas, Nevada, experienced a frightening few seconds when the aircraft took a sudden nosedive to avoid a midair collision shortly after takeoff.
The dramatic maneuver caused passengers to fly up out of their seats and into the ceiling as children and adults screamed, fearing the worst.
Two flight attendants are being treated for injuries, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Caitlin Burdi, who was on flight 1496, told Fox News Digital she had been on the same flight path before, so she knew the extreme turbulence was abnormal.
“About 10 minutes into the flight, we plummeted pretty far, and I looked around, and everyone was like, ‘OK, that’s normal’,” Burdi said. “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.”
Southwest confirmed the crew responded to two onboard traffic alerts after takeoff, at about 11 a.m. local time, “requiring them to climb and descend to comply with the alerts.”
The airline said the flight continued to Las Vegas, where it landed “uneventfully,” according to a statement.
“Southwest is engaged with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to further understand the circumstances,” Southwest wrote. “We appreciate the professionalism of our Flight Crew and Flight Attendants in responding to this event. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.”
The FAA noted “another aircraft was in the vicinity while in Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center airspace.”
One flight attendant was dazed after hitting her head, passengers said. Another flight attendant announced he was quitting.
Following the dramatic drop, the pilot came on the intercom and said the plane had almost collided with another plane, and they had lost the air traffic control signal.
“It was absolutely terrifying,” Burdi said. “I just remember him saying, ‘What just happened was we almost collided with another plane, and I had to make the emergency attempt to go under because we lost service with the air traffic controller.’”
Other passengers on the fearful flight took to social media to share their experience.
“Myself & Plenty of people flew out of their seats & bumped heads on ceiling, a flight attendant needed medical attention,” stand-up comedian Jimmy Dore wrote in an X post. “Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us. Wow.”
The FAA said it is investigating.
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