The United States experiences another close call between military aircraft and a commercial plane

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration stated on the 26th that it is investigating an incident this week involving a U.S. military “Black Hawk” helicopter in California airspace that nearly collided with a Boeing passenger aircraft. According to reports from multiple media outlets, on the 24th at approximately 8:40 p.m. local time, United Airlines Flight 589 was preparing to land at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, when a “Black Hawk” helicopter flew across directly in front of its flight path. When the aircraft received the warning, the two aircraft were only a few hundred feet apart (1 foot is about 0.3048 meters). The Boeing 737-800 passenger plane was forced to level off to avoid the collision; at that time, there were 162 passengers and 6 crew members onboard. The California National Guard stated in a release that the helicopter belonged to the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base and was conducting “routine training” at the time of the incident. The U.S. Army issued a statement indicating that it has taken note of the incident involving the California National Guard “Black Hawk” helicopter and is coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration to obtain further details. On the evening of January 29, 2025, a Bombardier jet carrying 64 people operated by the American Pacific Southwest Airlines collided during its landing at Washington Reagan National Airport with an Army “Black Hawk” helicopter carrying three service members; both aircraft subsequently crashed into the Potomac River. There were no survivors. According to U.S. media reports, this was the most serious aviation accident in Washington since 1982. Since then, there have been several other near-miss incidents involving military aircraft and passenger planes.