Two passengers aboard a United Airlines flight, on descent into San Francisco, suffered injuries as the pilot maneuvered to avoid a midair collision after receiving a collision avoidance system resolution advisory from air traffic control. File Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI | License Photo
Sept. 24 (UPI) — Two passengers aboard a United Airlines flight, on descent into San Francisco, suffered injuries as the pilot maneuvered to avoid a midair collision.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, one passenger was seriously injured and another suffered minor injuries last Thursday after pilots on UA flight 2428 from Newark, N.J., responded to a traffic collision avoidance system resolution advisory from the Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center Airspace.
The Boeing 757-200 “slowed its descent to account for another aircraft at a lower altitude,” United Airlines said in a statement. The maneuver is a “last defense against midair collisions,” according to the National Business Aviation Association.
United, which stated the seat belt sign had been turned on, said “two customers, including one who was out of their seat at the time, reported possible injuries and were transported to a hospital.”
The airline did not release the extent of the passengers’ injuries, but audio from LiveATC.net reveals the pilots declared a medical emergency to air traffic controllers in Oakland, saying “someone might have broken an ankle and there’s passengers that got hurt when we had an RA.”
The incident last Thursday took place at 31,000 feet, about 70 miles north of San Francisco, according to FlightRadar24, which shows a Southwest Airlines flight about 3,000 feet below the United flight and a SkyWest flight about 1,000 feet lower.
Pilots are required to respond immediately to collision resolution advisories. The FAA is investigating.
