LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Southwest Airline jet heading to Las Vegas from Southern California took a dramatic plunge shortly after takeoff Friday in response to an alert a couple of close by airplane, injuring two flight attendants, authorities and passengers stated.
Southwest flight 1496 was responding to an onboard alert about one other plane in its neighborhood, the Federal Aviation Administration stated. The FAA is investigating.
The crew responded to 2 air alerts that required the pilot to climb then descend, the airline stated in an announcement. The flight departed from Hollywood Burbank Airport simply earlier than midday.
Passengers posted on social media that the airplane took a dramatic drop quickly after takeoff.
“Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us,” comic Jimmy Dore posted on X.
The airplane was not within the quick neighborhood of the Hollywood Burbank Airport, north of Los Angeles, on the time, stated Mike Christensen, an airport spokesman. Christensen stated that neither the management tower or the operations division, which tracks planes departing and arriving, have any file of the Southwest flight plunging of their airspace.
Southwest stated the flight continued to Las Vegas, “where it landed uneventfully.” The airline stated that it’s working with the Federal Aviation Administration “to further understand the circumstances” of the occasion.
This shut name is simply the most recent incident to boost questions on aviation security within the wake of January’s midair collision over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 folks.
Initially Revealed: July 25, 2025 at 4:12 PM PDT
