FAA investigating close call between plane and military helicopter at John Wayne Airport
SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating after a Blackhawk helicopter crossed right into the flight path of a United Airlines flight coming in for landing at Orange County's John Wayne Airport (SNA).
The close call happened between a United Boeing 737 with 168 passengers onboard, and a military Blackhawk that flight data shows took off from Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos on Tuesday evening.
This incident is the latest to raise questions about how to best keep air passengers safe and avoid collisions in the air and on the ground.
"United 589, just want to clarify here, did you get just a traffic call reference to helicopter, or did they restrict your altitude or anything?" an Air Traffic Controller asked the pilot of the United aircraft on radio traffic.
"Yeah, we had a resolution advisory," the pilot responded.
"Ok, so you guys had an RA. OK, thank you, and we're going to be addressing that, because that was not good," the air traffic controller responded.
An anti-collision alert was triggered in the United cockpit because at their closest point, the jet and helicopter were separated by just 500 feet vertically and 1,400 feet horizontally.
"The most serious alarm possible. So it told that United jet, 'You need to level off right now, or you're going to hit that helicopter,'" said former Marine Corps fighter pilot Col. Steve Ganyard, USMC (Ret.).
"Yeah, that's close," said Shawn Pruchnicki, who is a former commercial airline pilot now with the Ohio State University's Center for Aviation Studies. "As far as the airspace in that area, absolutely, it is extremely congested, and when you have a shortage of controllers, and controllers are operating more fatigued and so forth, that does bring additional risks."
Pruchnicki says the passengers, who all landed safely at John Wayne Airport, were never in danger because the United pilot never lost visual contact with the chopper, and the alert system worked.
Still, he says the incident is worrying.
"It certainly is concerning, especially after the Washington accident a little more than a year ago," Pruchnicki told Eyewitness News, referring to the tragic collision of a U.S. Army Blackhawk and an American Airlines jet, which killed 67 people in January 2025 near D.C.'s Ronald Regan National Airport.
SEE ALSO: Intense air traffic at time of deadly midair plane, helicopter collision near DC: investigator
"Pilots on United flight 589 were advised by air traffic control to watch for a military helicopter flying near the airport," United Airlines said in a statement. "They saw the helicopter, and also received a traffic alert, which they responded to by leveling the aircraft. The United flight then landed safely."
Meanwhile, the California National Guard issued the following statement:
"We are aware of the situation and can confirm that an Army National Guard helicopter, based at Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, was conducting a routine training mission. At the time, the aircraft was returning to Los Alamitos airfield along an established Visual Flight Rules (VFR) route at an assigned altitude while in communication with air traffic control. Both aircraft landed safely. A thorough review will be conducted in coordination with the appropriate agencies. We refer you to the FAA for additional information."
Pruchnicki says during his time as a commercial pilot, it was very rare to come across military choppers outside of D.C.
"Are we at a critical mass where there is a chance of accidents happening weekly? No, not at all. It's still the safest form of travel. However, has the safety margin eroded somewhat? Yeah," Pruchnicki said.
Part of the FAA's investigation will determine if air traffic controllers adhered to a new measure, which suspends the use of visual separation between airplanes and helicopters. That measure was a result of last January's crash and just went into effect last week, requiring air traffic controllers to use radar to actively manage aircraft separation.
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