Airline travel is actually exceptionally safe compared to other forms of transportation such as driving your car, but it probably did not feel that way to passengers aboard a Southwest flight headed from Burbank, California to Las Vegas Friday. The plane came oh-so-close to disaster, and the pilot had to make a bold move to save the day:
Two flight attendants were injured after a commercial Southwest Airlines jet suddenly dropped 475 feet to avoid a “midair collision” shortly after takeoff at a Los Angeles-area airport Friday, with one frightened passenger saying the aircraft “was just in a freefall.”
Southwest Flight 1496 dove from 14,100 feet to 13,625 feet just six minutes after taking off from Hollywood Burbank Airport, according to FlightRadar24 data.
The pilot told concerned flyers that the drastic maneuver was carried out to avoid “a midair collision,” passenger Steve Ulasewicz told ABC News.
Flight path data shows the aircraft coming dangerously close to each other:
A Southwest flight rapidly descended 475 feet to avoid another plane on Friday, according to flight tracking data and passengers on the plane.https://t.co/lZ61zIbeCS pic.twitter.com/gAemAJlRBE
— ABC News (@ABC) July 25, 2025
The pilots were responding to two onboard traffic alerts, and the sudden maneuver was to “comply” with those warnings, according to Southwest.
There have been a number of high-profile airplane crashes in recent months, most notably the horrible January collision over the Potomac River in Washington, DC, when a military helicopter collided in mid-air with a commercial flight, killing 67. However, statistics refute that large crashes are on the rise; in fact, the Reagan Airport collision was the first major commercial crash in the U.S. since 2009.
READ RELATED: New Details Emerge About Actions of Black Hawk Pilots in Deadly DC Mid-Air Collision
That being said, it was plenty terrifying for the passengers on board, who described people literally flying around and hitting the ceiling. I’ve taken that particular flight on numerous occasions, and I’d be lying if I said it’s not concerning.
This passenger, Caitlin Burdi, detailed her ordeal:
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 25, 2025
“About 10 minutes into the flight, we plummeted pretty far, and I looked around, and everyone was like, ‘OK, that’s normal’,” Burdi said. “Then, within two seconds, it felt like the ride Tower of Terror, where we fell 20 to 30 feet in the air. The screaming, it was terrifying. We really thought we were plummeting to a plane crash.”
Comedian Jimmy Dore was also on board:
Just now on SW Flight #1496 Burbank to Las Vegas.
Pilot had to dive aggressively to avoid midair collision over Burbank airport.
Myself & Plenty of people flew out of their seats & bumped heads on ceiling, a flight attendant needed medical attention.
Pilot said his collision…
— Jimmy Dore (@jimmy_dore) July 25, 2025
Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us.
Wow.
Although it was a close call and terrified those on board, in the end, the safety systems worked and a much larger tragedy was avoided. We can be thankful for that.
this is a video representation of what happened: https://t.co/nBnclh4suh
— Jimmy Dore (@jimmy_dore) July 26, 2025
