Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants Injured in Near-Miss with Military Jet

Two Southwest Airlines flight attendants sustained injuries yesterday after the pilot executed a sudden evasive maneuver to avoid a mid-air collision with a military jet, ABC News reports. Southwest Flight 1496, en route from Burbank, California, to Las Vegas, was forced into an abrupt descent of approximately 145 meters shortly after takeoff to prevent impact with a Hawker Hunter fighter jet owned by a defense contractor. A source informed ABC News that multiple Hawker Hunters were operating in the area at the time, though the reason for both aircraft occupying the same altitude remains unclear. This incident marks at least the second near-collision in US airspace this week, following a close call involving a Delta flight from Minneapolis to Minot, North Dakota, and a B-52 bomber. It also follows a March incident where a passenger jet nearly collided with a military aircraft at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport – the same location where a fatal collision between an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter claimed at least 67 lives several months prior.