Two Passengers Injured on United Flight After Pilots Respond to Collision Warning

CNN
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The Federal Aviation Administration has opened an investigation into a United Airlines plane that was struck by an earthquake that injured two passengers when pilots responded to a warning from the plane’s air collision system.

United Airlines said Flight 2428 from Newark, New Jersey, was landing at San Francisco International Airport on Thursday but “slowed its descent to accommodate another aircraft at a lower altitude.” The two injured passengers were taken to the hospital, the airline said in a statement.

One passenger suffered serious injuries and another minor injury last Thursday when pilots responded to an incident, the Federal Aviation Administration’s accident report says. Advice on solving the traffic collision avoidance system problem Or “TCAS RA.”

Collision Resolution Warnings are treated as extreme warnings of a potential collision with another aircraft, and pilots must act immediately.

Data from Flight radar 24 The images show the crash occurred at an altitude of 31,000 feet, with the plane near Lake Berryessa, about 70 miles north of San Francisco. FlightRadar24 says a Southwest Airlines plane was 3,000 feet below the United plane, and a SkyWest plane was 1,000 feet below.

In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration, which is responsible for air traffic control, said “there was no loss of safe separation.”

An audio clip from LiveATC.net showed the pilots declaring a medical emergency, telling air traffic controllers in Oakland that “someone may have broken their ankle and there were passengers who were injured when we had a heart attack.”

United Airlines told CNN that the seat belt sign was on at the time of the crash, and that one of the injured passengers was out of his seat.

The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet launched an investigation, but a spokesman told CNN the agency is gathering preliminary information.

Thursday’s in-flight incident was the latest in a potential collision this month. On Sept. 12, an Alaska Airlines flight was forced to abort its takeoff in Nashville because a Southwest Airlines plane crossed the same runway. Two days earlier, a Delta Air Lines Airbus A350 struck the wingtip of a smaller regional jet as they taxied, causing the regional jet’s tail to fall off.