Southwest Airlines flight 1496 made a split-second dive to avoid a mid-air collision on Friday. Just after the 11:57 a.m. takeoff from Burbank Airport enroute to Las Vegas, the Boeing 737‑700 (registration N249WN) was about six minutes into flight when a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) alert indicated a nearby jet. The crew executed a startling descent of about 500 feet- dropping from around 14,100 feet to about 13,625 feet—to avoid a collision.
ABC News: About 6 min after SWA1496 took off from Hollywood Burbank Airport, it abruptly descended 475 feet, per to Flightradar24. The other plane ascended. Preliminary data shows the planes were several miles apart when the pilots received their alerts. This happened today. pic.twitter.com/pu1oysPVN3
— Olga Nesterova (@onestpress) July 25, 2025
The good news is your 737 got an automated alert, your crew did what they were supposed to do and so your aircraft didn't get dangerously close to the other (a Hawker Hunter jet fighter registered to a defense contractor). pic.twitter.com/Ge7WwOifWu
— John Wiseman (@lemonodor) July 25, 2025
The other aircraft was identified as a Hawker Hunter fighter jet (registration N335AX), operated by Hunter Aviation International, traveling roughly 400 ft above and a few miles away from the Southwest jet.
Passengers described horror in the cabin—screams, some passengers “flew out of their seats and hit the ceiling,” despite being belted in. One compared the experience to a theme‑park drop. Applause reportedly broke out after landing, as passengers absorbed what had happened.
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
The man beside me grabbed my arm! We were all shaken up. The flight erupted with applause once we landed. pic.twitter.com/UvqHQu4Jlv
— Stef Zamorano (@miserablelib) July 25, 2025
Here is more discussion from passengers.
My connecting flight from Burbank to Las Vegas today almost collided with another plane midair due to the fault of the traffic controllers. Our pilot had to make the most insane dive ever to avoid the other aircraft. So many of us flew out of our seats for about 20 seconds, even with seatbelts on, and one of the flight attendants got hurt and needed medical attention after we landed. I just wanted to thank the pilot, co-pilot, and flight attendants for keeping us safe ❤️
I was also on that flight. It was absolutely terrifying. Still cannot believe we avoided colliding with another plane. I am so grateful to the pilots for keeping us safe and alive. Glad we made it, friend!
Two flight attendants were injured—thrown against the ceiling during the maneuver. They received medical evaluation upon landing. No passenger injuries were reported.
People were screaming as the plane dove. A flight attendant is being looked at right now with an ice pac on her head.
— Steve U. (@SteveFrancis_20) July 25, 2025
According to Southwest Airlines,
The crew of Southwest Flight 1496 responded to two onboard traffic alerts Friday afternoon while climbing out of Burbank, requiring them to climb and descend to comply with the alerts. The flight continued to Las Vegas, where it landed uneventfully.
Southwest is engaged with the Federal Aviation Administration to further understand the circumstances. No injuries were immediately reported by Customers, but two Flight Attendants are being treated for injuries. We appreciate the professionalism of our Flight Crew and Flight Attendants in responding to this event. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.
The flight landed safely in Las Vegas at approximately 12:45 PM local time, and the airline is cooperating with the FAA investigation.
It remains unclear why flight paths placed both aircraft within TCAS alert proximity – what role air traffic control errors played; whether communication breakdowns or vectoring decisions contributed; the exact spatial relationship and intent of the Hawker Hunter flight. Fortunately, crew reacted well to the TCAS alerts and avoided a devastating result.
A couple of readers asked me how it’s possible for passengers to be lifted from their seats and strike overhead compartments when they were belted.
When an aircraft rapidly dives, the plane and passengers are momentarily in free fall as a result of negative G-forces, or negative vertical acceleration. Passengers to experience weightlessness or even upward movement relative to the aircraft interior.
- Seatbelts are designed primarily to restrain passengers from forward and lateral movements—not specifically vertical upward movement.
- If the belt isn’t tightly fastened across the hips, there’s slack allowing the body to rise several inches.
- Even a few inches of upward movement can be enough to strike overhead bins or cabin ceilings, especially for taller passengers whose belts are loose.
Passengers can still sustain injuries when seated and belted in significant altitude drops or turbulence encounters. There’s a reason safety announcements instruct that your seatbelt should be tight and low across your lap. Fortunately no one was seriously injured here.
Oh the good old hyperbole from some passengers.. What g-forces are we talking about here?! This is just ridiculous. I realise they’re all trying to get compensation but really…
People are supposed to have their seatbelt securely fastened and tightened so they stay in their seat during turbulence or unexpected flying maneuvers. My guess is that more smaller and slighter people are the ones less likely to have their seatbelts tightened enough to hold them in their seats. Larger people who use most of the seatbelt are less likely to have enough extra room in the seatbelt to hit the overhead luggage bins (not ceiling.)
As the article states, the aircraft were a couple of miles apart most TCAS alerts are given with sufficient time to allow for corrections without abrupt changes in attitude, having first hand experience with them. Two things in play here, the pilot flying over reacting and passengers with either very loose or unbuckled seatbelts. The F/A’s injuries are understandable as they were involved in beginning their inflight service on a short leg to LVS.
Since the sensationalized report of a near death midair collision avoidance reported between a B-52 and a Delta/Skywest aircraft at Minot, N.D. last week, we can expect to see more of these popping up on social media making headlines.
After 900+ sport skydives I have come to deeply appreciate the FIRM embrace of very tight nylon holding me in place in ground and air transport. Loosey goosey or unbuckled is a losing game of chance for morons.
We didn’t have all these aviation disasters before January 20. Maybe instead of strong arming the media and universities, the government could instead focus on its core mission?
Proper pilot reaction to a TCAS warning is to SMOOTHLY use control inputs in the same degree as if issued an “expedite climb” or “expedite descent” call from air traffic control. It should NEVER result in negative Gs. SW should emphasize this in what should be an “additional training opportunity” for this crew.
They dropped over mountains – making this even more terrifying. That said it seems inappropriate to post someone saying it was air traffic control’s fault. That has not been ascertained.
@Lance — Nah, stuff happened before and likely will happen after; this isn’t TDS, or some grand conspiracy. Yes, there is a real issue with dated technology and staffing shortages at both the FAA, and ATCs, generally. Could we, our government, etc., invest even more? Of course. Will that make the difference? Maybe. Accidents still happen, and we should learn from them. If you actually care, the FAA (not the NTSB, because there wasn’t a crash) will likely contact each pilot/company, try to identify what happened, implement improvements, if necessary. It takes time. It’s boring. Likely won’t be a headline. There you go.
1. Kudos to the pilots for preventing a disaster.
2. This is why you are told to keep your seat belt fastened low and tight.
3. While scary if you don’t expect it, rapid controlled descent is perfectly safe.
LOL, nothing to see here…. moving on.
In teaching TCAS to pilots, we stress the two major alert warnings. The TA or traffic advisory stresses that two aircraft are approaching converging flight paths within 45 seconds. An aural warning of “TRAFFIC TRAFFIC” is sounded in the cockpit along with a visual orange symbol on the TCAS display (which is sometimes different on various aircraft). The RA or resolution advisory requires IMMEDIATE action by the pilot to avoid collision. One aircraft will receive a “CLIMB CLIMB” aural warning along with an associated visual cue on the associated flight instrument. The other aircraft will receive a “DESCEND DECEND” aural warning and associated visual. The associated visual will indicate how aggressive the pitch maneuver must be to avoid collision. Pilots are also REQUIRED to follow the visual cues. I believe it was a recognized world wide freight carrier and another foreign carrier that collided at altitude due to one of the pilots NOT following the pitch command. TCAS is extremely effective at preventing collisions. However, the “rules of engagement” must be glued to the pilot’s psyche….”FOLLOW THE COMMANDS” don’t try to outguess it.
As an airline, SouthWest has taken a dive lately.
@Mark Skoning
You are absolutely correct in your assessment. The pilot definitely ham fisted the maneuver. Nice and smooth Southwest Cowboy.
@Coffee Please — Yeeehaaaw!
(Was thinking more ‘the ending of Dr. Strangelove’)
(Speaking of Vegas and that classic film, hilarious scene is when Maj. Kong is going through the emergency kit, and some of its absurd contents, with his crew, and says, “Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff…” Bah!)
IIRC, the Burbank airport is kind of boxed in by mountains. I’m not a pilot, however is it possible the fast dive was so they could avoid hitting one of them, and therefore not an overreaction?
If anyone really “flew out of their seats”, they were not following the instructions of the cabin crew. Every airplane seat on a Southwest Airlines 737 comes equipped with a device called a seat belt. And on every commercial flight which I’ve ever been a passenger, a member of the cabin crew announces over the aircraft’s speaker system that passengers need to fasten their seat belts and keep them fastened until informed by the crew that the aircraft has reached cruising altitude and it is safe to unfasten the devices. I have sincere doubts about whether any passengers hit the plane’s ceiling, but if I’m wrong, those passengers who may have been injured in this manner have only themselves to blame.
DEI is destroying our air travel system when will MAGA fixed ir ???
Anyone will to pay 6 1/2 or 9 1/2 euros for a can of Coca-Cola deserved to be ripped off. And where is the “lasagne” on this receipt? Sum Ting Wong here..