Southwest Airlines Crew Takes Evasive Action To Avoid Mid-air Collision With Fighter Jet, Two Flight Attendants Injured: Everything You Need To Know Now

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Two Southwest Airlines formation attendants person been injured aft their pilots quickly descended to debar a imaginable mid-air collision successful a scare that has been branded a adjacent miss. The aviator of Southwest Flight 1496 took disconnected from Hollywood Burbank Airport successful California and was headed to Las Vegas connected nan evening of July 21 erstwhile things took a spot of a turn. Pilots were advised of different aircraft, later confirmed to beryllium a Hawker Hunter combatant jet, that passed dangerously adjacent to nan commercialized flight.

Aircraft Alert Leads to Evasive Action

On nan Southwest airline’s Boeing 737, a informing alert sounded successful nan cockpit that different craft was nearby, forcing evasive action. From astir 500 feet successful nan aerial nan formation plummeted, according to formation search services. There was nary wounded among nan passengers, but pinch nan abrupt driblet 1 of them said it was arsenic if nan level was plummeting to a crash.

The clang occurred conscionable 1 week aft a adjacent miss that progressive a SkyWest Airlines formation successful North Dakota. Once nan business was nether control, nan formation proceeded to Las Vegas pinch nary different issues and landed accordingly.

Military Aircraft Involved successful nan Near Miss

Both nan Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Southwest Airlines person verified that nan different level progressive is simply a British-made Hawker Hunter pitchy fighter. This subject craft intersected nan Southwest flight’s way astatine a vertical separation of only 350 feet and a horizontal region of 4.86 miles. The FAA is investigating nan incident, and nan U.S. Air Force has yet to respond to why nan subject pitchy was flying truthful intimately to civilian aerial traffic.

A Recent Past Marked by Close Calls

It is nan 4th specified known incident of subject craft nearing commercialized jets since March. A week earlier, SkyWest Airlines formation 3788 was forced to return evasive action aft coming wrong 100 feet of a B-52 bomber while successful its landing attack complete North Dakota. The subject level was said to person been participating successful a ceremonial flyover for nan authorities fair, truthful nan FAA is besides investigating this adjacent miss.

The FAA and NTSB are besides looking into different near-miss this twelvemonth betwixt a Delta Air Lines formation 319 and subject craft adjacent Reagan National Airport. One of nan large issues that’s being raised is really often thing for illustration that appears to happen, that location are near-misses pinch subject jets, and what tin nan information protocols beryllium astir having [air] postulation guidance erstwhile things are going connected pinch exercises for illustration that.

No Immediate Passenger Injuries

Fortunately, location were nary passengers wounded successful nan Southwest incident. But nan arena underscores nan deadly threat erstwhile civilian and subject craft travel into adjacent contact. Two formation attendants who were injured received aesculapian attraction pursuing nan flight, according to a connection from Southwest Airlines. Their injuries were not believed to beryllium life-threatening.

What fell done nan cracks for america was not being told really overmuch clip was near successful nan business said Caitlin Burdi, a rider connected nan formation who called nan acquisition “terrifying” and said that nan steep nosedive made passengers judge nan formation was going to crash. After, nan aviator came connected nan P.A., telling passengers astir nan incident and really it was avoided.

Safety Measures and FAA Response

In consequence to nan incidents, nan FAA has reopened its investigation into near-collisions. The section has a dedicated aerial postulation information guidance conception to analyse and amended procedures that interest craft separation and formation safety. An FAA spokesperson told CNN nan Safety Investigation Division is already investigating because it is simply a superior information concern.

These issues besides constituent to nan deficiency of coordination betwixt nan subject and civilian aerial postulation power systems. Traditionally, nan guidance of airspace has been geared towards civilian traffic, but these incidents person drawn attraction to a deficiency of coordination betwixt nan two.

Rising Alarms About Military Air Traffic Over Civilian Flights

The surge of subject craft encounters pinch commercialized flights has raised interest among aviation information experts. The drawstring of caller adjacent calls are calling attraction to nan protocols successful spot to make judge subject and civilian craft are capable to run safely successful nan airspace they share. Aviation information experts opportunity aerial postulation power systems must travel procedures that alteration them to speak intelligibly and defender against akin accidents successful nan future.

What This Means for Future Cruises

For passengers, specified episodes whitethorn punctual questions astir nan information of flying, peculiarly erstwhile subject jets are involved. To their credit, nan FAA and Southwest person some tried to convey to nan nationalist that they see formation information to beryllium very important and that they are moving to guarantee that these incidents do not go a trend.

Even pinch these adjacent misses, aerial recreation is still 1 of nan safest ways to travel, and is governed by strict information measures and regulations. Yet, nan statement connected nan separation betwixt subject and civilian craft is processing into a taxable of specified emergency quality that it demands for much consciousness and action.

Bottom Line

As per Stogdale said successful a connection that for illustration galore others we are profoundly concerned by what we are hearing. The B737 MAX represents a bully proportionality of business. Southwest Airlines and nan FAA would astir apt present further information precautions and tighten communications systems pinch subject craft but successful nan continued dream of preventing unsafe encounters successful nan future. Currently, travelers are recommended to support abreast of ongoing investigations and beryllium informed of immoderate information updates from nan FAA.