A southwest flight moving away from Burbank airport suddenly descended from hundreds of feet on Friday afternoon, perhaps to avoid an outdoor collision.
The plane was 14,100 feet above the Angeles National Forest towards the northeast in Las Vegas at 12:03 p.m. when it suddenly fell to 13,625 feet, Flightradar24 data watch.
The decrease of around 500 feet occurred a few moments after the plane has won altitude from takeoff, causing tense moments on the plane. The passengers said on social networks that they were surprised by the move.
Steve Ulasewicz, 33, was on the plane. Woodland Hills resident felt a sudden drop about eight minutes after the flight start and thought it could be bad turbulence.
After a break of two or three seconds, the plane entered “free fall for about eight to 10 seconds,” he said. “People were shouting. I felt my body go up and get out of the chair. ”
In a flight life, he had never felt anything like that. “I thought that was everything-I thought we were all dead,” he said. “I don’t want to die,” Ulasewicz told her friendly friendly friend in the fall.
Once the plane stabilized, the passengers were confused. Ulasewicz wondered if there was a bird strike or a mechanical problem. He waited for the “two to three long minutes of [his] Life ”before the pilot came on the intercom to announce the nearby collision, he said.
He saw a attendant with a bag of ice on his head. Unlike passengers, she was not completed during the ascent when she was preparing to serve drinks.
After the terror of the incident, Ulasewicz said that the revelation that his plane was involved in a quasi-manca changed his angry emotions. He listed a number of similar incidents In the United States, heaven in recent months.
The commercial flight had to climb and descend to comply with two traffic alerts on board, said Southwest spokesperson Lynn Lunsford, in a press release in Times.
“The flight continued in Las Vegas, where he landed without incident,” the statement said. “The South West is engaged with the Federal Aviation Administration to better understand the circumstances.”
“No injury was immediately reported by customers, but two on -board agents are treated for injuries,” said Lunsford.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating the incident in a written declaration.
A military jet headed southwest towards the county naval base of Ventura to Mugu point and was at a similar altitude – 14,525 feet – when the southwest flight fell, by Flightradar24.
The planes were about eight kilometers from each other and less than 400 vertical feet of each other, directed in opposite directions, when the southwest flight has taken evasive measures, according to flight data on the website. The fighter plane stopped its own constant descent and maintained its height for several minutes after the incident.
The plane landed in Las Vegas at 12:39 p.m. Friday.
There was an increasing concentration on Aviation security in recent months.
A series of Radar pumps at Newark Liberty International Airport brought massive flight delays in May. Federal officials continue to investigate the January collision in Washington between a commercial jet and a military helicopter who killed 67 people.
In San Diego, a private jet crashed, killing the six on board in June. A federal survey revealed that the plane was flying too low before hitting the power lines and ignited in a house.
The automated system which provides weather conditions and track fires did not work at the airport before the plane launched, confirmed the report.
This is a story in development and will be updated.
