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Saturday, July 26, 2025
On Friday, a Southwest Airlines flight lost altitude after nearly colliding with another aircraft near Los Angeles, California. “Extreme manuevers” were said to have been required. The resulting loss of altitude injured flight attendants according to reports.
Southwest Flight 1496, the flight that lost altitude, took off from Hollywood Burbank Airport and was en route to Las Vegas. Following the near-miss and descent, the flight continued on its way and eventually reached its destination safely.
Stand-up comedian Jimmy Dore was among the passengers of the flight. He wrote on social media: “Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us. Wow. […] A flight attendant needed medical attention.”
A passenger recounted: “It was terrifying. We really thought we were plummeting to a plane crash. […] I just remember [the pilot] saying, ‘What just happened was we almost collided with another plane, and I had to make the emergency attempt to go under because we lost service with the air traffic controller.”
The FAA stated that it was investigating the incident.