A Southwest Airlines flight dropped 475 feet to avoid collision with a Hawker Hunter aircraft on Friday, according to flight tracking data and passenger accounts, reports ABC News.Roughly six minutes after departing Hollywood Burbank Airport, California, Southwest Flight 1496 abruptly descended from 14,100 feet to 13,625 feet, as per data from FlightRadar24.The Hawker Hunter was flying at about 14,653 feet when the Southwest jet began its descent. At their closest point, the two planes were just 7.82 kms apart, according to FlightRadar24.Two flight attendants are currently being treated for sustaining injuries after the incident, as per a statement by the airlines.“Southwest is engaged with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to further understand the circumstances,” Southwest said in a statement. “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.”Steve Ulasewicz, a passenger on the plane experienced what felt like a “significant drop” and the pilot later announced that the maneuver was made to “avoid a midair collision,” reports ABC News.“About 10 minutes into the flight, we plummeted pretty far, and I looked around, and everyone was like, ‘OK, that’s normal, ‘” Caitlin Burdi, a passenger onboard Flight 1496 was quoted as saying by Fox News.“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,” she added.Following the drop the pilot confirmed through the intercom that the flight had almost collided with another plane and reportedly lost air traffic control signal.“It was absolutely terrifying,” said Burdi, as per Fox News. “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.’”“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,” comedian Jimmy Dore said on X.
