A flight attendant was injured after an Allegiant plane took “evasive action” avoiding a mid-air collision with a private jet. The Allegiant flight was headed for Lexington, Kentucky. Authorities are already investigating the incident that happened on Sunday.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Allegiant Air Flight 485 just left Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when an air traffic controller in the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center instructed the flight to turn eastbound at an altitude of 23,000 feet when the plane crossed in front of a Gulfstream business jet heading northbound.
According to the FAA, Allegiant Air Flight 485 received an automated alert about another plane flying at the same altitude. The pilot of the Gulfstream business jet also made evasive action after getting a similar automated alert.
Flight Attendant Injured After Avoiding Mid-Air Collision
The Allegiant flight returned to Fort Lauderdale after a flight attendant was injured in the incident. Fortunately, the FAA did not report any injured passengers. On Friday, the National Transportation Safety Board is still gathering information regarding the incident. After which, the NTSB will then decide whether it is going to conduct its own investigation.
NBC interviewed a passenger on the flight who stated that: “Two of the flight attendants that were handing out drinks at the time, they both fell to the ground. One of them was completely fine. But the other one did hit her head on her hand row, and it also turns out that she snapped her wrist.”
15 minutes later, the pilot announced that they were going back to Fort Lauderdale and he just made an abrupt maneuver to avoid another aircraft.
Earlier this year, numerous near misses at airports pressed both the FAA and the NTSB to have separate safety summits. In May, the FAA released data showing that these incidents had decreased since January. However, there were nine near misses in US airports in the first four months of the year alone. Compared to 2022, there were only 18 near misses that year.
