A Southwest Airlines flight headed to Las Vegas was forced into a sudden mid-air dive on Friday, narrowly avoiding a collision with another aircraft and injuring two flight attendants.
The terrifying incident occurred just minutes after the flight took off from Burbank, California, shaking passengers and raising fresh concerns over U.S. air traffic safety.
According to flight tracking data, Southwest Flight 1496 dropped hundreds of feet shortly after takeoff in what the pilot later described as a collision-avoidance maneuver. The aircraft was reportedly sharing airspace with a privately owned Hawker Hunter Mk 58 fighter jet.
American comedian Jimmy Dore, who was on board, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that “plenty of people flew out of their seats and bumped heads on the ceiling” during what he called an “aggressive” dive.
Southwest Airlines confirmed the incident, stating the crew responded to two traffic alerts that required them to quickly ascend and descend to maintain safe separation from another aircraft.
While no passengers reported serious injuries, two flight attendants were treated for injuries sustained during the turbulence.
The flight continued to Las Vegas and landed without further incident. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation.
This latest scare adds to a growing list of near-misses and mid-air safety concerns in U.S. airspace.
In January, 67 people were killed when a commercial jet collided mid-air with a military helicopter near Washington, D.C. In May, the Trump administration announced a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s aging air traffic control system, which has long struggled with underfunding and staff shortages.
With hundreds of FAA employees laid off in recent months as part of federal budget cuts, experts are warning that U.S. airspace could be on the brink of a serious safety crisis.
