Passengers on a Southwest Airlines jet described a jarring drop on a flight from Hollywood Burbank Airport to Las Vegas that injured two flight attendants.

Passengers aboard Southwest flight 1496 from California to Nevada experienced a frightening few seconds when the aircraft took a sudden nosedive to avoid a midair collision.

The Southwest Boeing 737 departed just before noon local time on Friday for a scheduled flight to Las Vegas. Six minutes after takeoff, a privately owned Hawker Hunter fighter jet crossed less than two miles in front of the Southwest plane, passing within a few hundred feet of the same altitude, according to flight tracking site Flightradar24.

The FAA says Southwest Airlines was responding to two onboard alerts that another aircraft was in the vicinity and that Flight 1496 needed to "climb and descend."

A Southwest Airlines flight from Burbank made an emergency descent of 475 feet to avoid colliding with another aircraft before safely landing in Las Vegas on Friday.

Southwest Airlines will switch to assigned seats on Jan. 27, 2026, the airline announced. Seat assignments will go on sale July 29, 2025.

The FAA is investigating why a Southwest passenger jet had to take drastic measures to avoid hitting another aircraft. Hunter Sowards reports.