The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation into a jolt on a United Airlines flight that wounded two passengers after the pilots responded to an onboard midair collision warning system.
United Airlines said that as flight 2428 from Newark, New Jersey, approached San Francisco International Airport last Thursday, it “slowed its descent to account for another aircraft at a lower altitude.” According to a statement from United, both injured passengers were transported to hospitals.
According to an FAA incident report, one passenger had critical injuries and another received minor injuries last Thursday when the pilots responded to a traffic collision avoidance system resolution advisory, or “TCAS RA.”
Collision resolution advisories are viewed as extreme cautions of a potential collision with another aircraft, and pilots must act immediately.
FlightRadar24 data suggests that the incident occurred at 31,000 feet as the plane was flying near Lake Berryessa, some 70 miles north of San Francisco. According to FlightRadar24, a Southwest Airlines flight was 3,000 feet lower than a United flight, while a SkyWest flight was 1,000 feet lower.
In a statement, the FAA, which is in charge of air traffic control, claimed “there was no loss of safe separation.”
LiveATC.net audio captured the pilots declaring a medical emergency, telling air traffic controllers in Oakland that “someone might have broken an ankle and there are passengers who got hurt when we had a RA.”
According to United Airlines, the seatbelt sign was turned on at the time of the event, and one of the injured passengers was not sitting in their seat.
The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet begun an inquiry, but a spokeswoman confirmed to CNN that the agency is receiving preliminary evidence.
Thursday’s in-flight incident is the latest to involve a suspected near-collision this month. On September 12, an Alaska Airlines flight was forced to abort its departure from Nashville due to a Southwest jet crossing the same runway. Two days previously, the wingtip of a Delta Air Lines Airbus A350 collided with a smaller regional jet as both were taxiing, causing the regional jet’s tail to come off.
