When the jet drops 300 feet in 36 seconds, southwest passengers jump out of their seats
a Southwest Airlines The jet headed for Las Vegas from Southern California made a dramatic rush Friday shortly after takeoff, and in response to warnings about a nearby plane, leapt out of its seat and injured two flight attendants.
The plane suddenly shook shortly after the acquisition and then felt it was falling, said Steph Zamorano, who was flying to Las Vegas with her husband to celebrate his birthday.
In front of her, Samolano saw a woman without a seat belt coming out of her seat and flying in tangled chaos. The man sitting next to her was clutching her arm and she said the woman across the aisle was in panic.
“She said, ‘I want to get off this plane, I want to be on the ground,’ and was verbally aware of how we all felt,” Zamone told The Associated Press.
Data from flight tracking site FlightAware shows that it dropped by about 300 feet (91.44 meters) in 36 seconds.
The Federal Aviation Administration said a 1496 Southwest flight was responding to onboard alerts for another aircraft nearby. The FAA is under investigation. Southwest said the crew responded to two alerts that the pilot had to climb. The flight departed from Hollywood Burbank Airport just before noon.
Still in shock, Zamorano says that when he later spoke to the passengers, he barely understands what the pilot was saying.
Another passenger, comedian Jimmy Door, posted x What the pilot mentioned near misses.
“The pilot said his crash warning had gone and we needed to avoid planes coming to us,” Door posted.
The plane was in the same airspace near Burbank as Hawker Hunter MK. 58 Just after noon local time, FlightAware shows. Hawker Hunter is a British fighter. Records show it is owned by Hawker Hunter Aviation, a British defense contracting company. The company did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Mike Christensen, a spokesman for the airport in Hollywood Burbank, said neither the control tower or the operational unit tracks planes and arriving planes have records of southwest flights in the airspace.
Southwest said the flight followed in Las Vegas. The airline said it is working with the FAA to further understand the situation at the event.
This close call is just the latest incident to raise questions. Aviation Safety As a result of January Air collision He killed 67 people in Washington, DC.