Close-Call Between United Flight And Helicopter At SoCal Airport Under Investigation By FAA

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A close call between a Black Hawk helicopter crossing into the path of a United Airlines flight as the plane was approaching a Southern California airport Tuesday is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The incident was reported Tuesday evening at around 8:40 p.m., when United Airlines Flight 589 from San Francisco was on final approach to John Wayne Airport. A Sikorsky Black Hawk U.S. Army helicopter crossed in front of its flight path close enough to trigger an anti-collision alert as the plane landed, The New York Times reported.

The passenger jet missed the military chopper by a few hundred feet, officials said. There were 162 passengers and six crew members on board.

Pilots on board the flight were advised by air traffic control to watch out for a military helicopter flying near the airport, United told KTLA.

Pilots saw the helicopter and also received a traffic alert, which prompted them to level the plane.

The United flight then landed safely, according to the airline. No injuries were reported.

According to CBS News, one air traffic controller remarked in obtained audio, "We're going to be addressing that because that was not good."

The FAA and U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced a new policy that suspends the use of "visual separation" between airplanes and helicopters in busy areas, requiring air traffic controllers to instead use radar to keep aircrafts from colliding.

That policy was implemented, in part, in response to a similar close call that occurred between a helicopter and a plane landing at the Hollywood Burbank Airport earlier this month.

The FAA is investigating whether this new measure was applied during the incident.

The new measure was put into place after an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into American Airlines Flight 5342 last year near Reagan National Airport in Washington, killing 67 people.

The latest close call comes just days after an Air Canada plane crashed into a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport, destroying the front of the jet and killing two pilots.

Forty-one others were hospitalized as a result of the crash.

The LaGuardia crash comes after the FAA earlier this month updated its list of airport "hot spots" — areas known for having a risk of collisions or runway confusion. In California, locations at 34 airports were on that list.

The "hot spots" concern numerous safety issues, including areas where vehicles are in the same areas as moving airplanes.

The list is routinely updated by the FAA and is among the information released by the agency meant to guide planning and decision-making at the nation's airports.

RELATED:

• 34 CA Airports 'Hot Spots' At Risk For Collision, Confusion: FAA
• LaGuardia Runway Collision Comes As Officials ID CA Airports At Risk For Similar Crashes