Two Southwest Airlines flight attendants sustained injuries after the plane, en route from southern California to Las Vegas, experienced a sudden plunge shortly post-takeoff on Friday. Passengers and the airline confirmed the incident.
Flight 1496, traveling from Burbank to Las Vegas, reportedly received two alerts that caused the aircraft to ascend and then sharply descend. According to Southwest and flight tracking websites, ABCNews and data from FlightRadar24 and AirNavRadar, the plane narrowly avoided a collision with a Hawker Hunter jet.
The Hawker Hunter jet is currently registered to a Non-Citizen Corporation, according to FAA registration records. Despite the incident, Southwest stated that Flight 1496 landed in Las Vegas without further issues and that the airline is collaborating with the FAA to investigate the circumstances surrounding the event.
The FAA acknowledged the incident, emphasizing that their primary concern is the safety of everyone in the national airspace system.
A social media video simulation displayed the evasive maneuvers made by the two aircraft to avoid each other.
Passenger Caitlin Burdi compared the experience to the “Tower of Terror” ride in an interview with Fox News, describing a sudden, dramatic descent. Fellow passenger Jimmy Dore, a YouTube personality, shared on social media that several passengers were thrown out of their seats and a flight attendant required medical attention due to the abrupt change in altitude. The pilot mentioned that his collision warning system had alerted him to the incoming aircraft.
This near-miss marks at least the second potential mid-air collision in the U.S. within the same week, following reports of a Delta flight nearly colliding with a B-52 bomber. In March, there was a close call between a passenger jet and a military plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which was a stark reminder of a previous incident months earlier when an American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter, resulting in 67 fatalities.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/25/southwest-airlines-flight-plunge
