A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Las Vegas made a dramatic mid-air dive on Friday to avoid a potential collision with another aircraft, leaving passengers shaken and two flight attendants injured. The flight, which had just taken off from Burbank, California, reportedly dropped several hundred feet in a matter of seconds, according to data from flight tracking websites.
Among the passengers on board was American comedian Jimmy Dore, who took to social media platform X to recount the harrowing experience. “Plenty of people flew out of their seats and bumped heads on the ceiling,” he wrote, describing the dive as “aggressive.” The pilot later informed passengers that the maneuver was a necessary response to a potential mid-air collision.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation into the incident. In a statement, Southwest Airlines said its crew had responded to onboard traffic alerts that required the aircraft to rapidly ascend and descend. The plane was flying near a privately owned Hawker Hunter Mk 58 fighter jet at the time of the near-miss.
Despite the alarming incident, the flight continued on to Las Vegas and landed safely. The airline confirmed that no passengers were injured, though two flight attendants were being treated for injuries sustained during the dive.
This event adds to growing concerns about aviation safety in the United States. Recent months have seen a series of close calls and accidents, raising questions about the state of air traffic management. In one tragic incident in January, 67 people were killed when a commercial airliner and a military helicopter collided mid-air near Washington, D.C.
Further scrutiny has been directed at the FAA, which is grappling with a shortage of air traffic controllers and an aging control system. Efforts to modernize air traffic control have been met with budget cuts and staffing reductions, particularly under previous federal workforce reduction policies.
As the FAA investigates this latest incident, aviation experts and lawmakers are once again calling for urgent reforms to ensure passenger safety and prevent future near-disasters in American airspace.
