Southwest Flight’s Terrifying Plunge Shocks Passengers
Southwest jet drops 300 feet, injuring crew after alert.
A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Las Vegas from Southern California plummeted dramatically shortly after takeoff on Friday, injuring two flight attendants after an onboard alert warned of a nearby aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the incident involving Southwest Flight 1496, which departed Hollywood Burbank Airport just before noon.
The crew responded to two collision alerts, prompting the pilot to climb and then rapidly descend, Southwest said in a statement. FlightAware data shows the plane dropped approximately 300 feet in 36 seconds. “The pilot said his collision warning went off, and he needed to avoid a plane coming at us,” comedian Jimmy Dore posted on X.
Flight records indicate the Southwest jet was in the same airspace as a Hawker Hunter Mk. 58, a British fighter plane owned by Hawker Hunter Aviation Ltd., which did not respond to requests for comment. However, Hollywood Burbank Airport spokesman Mike Christensen said the control tower and operations department have no record of the plunge occurring in their airspace.
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Passengers described a terrifying experience, with some reporting being thrown from their seats during the sudden descent. Despite the scare, the flight landed safely in Las Vegas. Southwest is cooperating with the FAA to investigate the circumstances.
The incident follows a January midair collision over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people, raising fresh concerns about aviation safety.
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