The FAA is
now investigating
a near collision midair
between two planes.
Sun this over Fort
Lauderdale, Florida,
pilot of Allegiant Flight
four 85
bound for Lexington, Kentucky,
was forced to take evasive action
after nearly hitting
a Gulfstream business jet.
A flight attendant on that Allegiant jet
was hurt.
Passenger Erika Zachary, seen here
on the flight, said
it felt like the plane went straight up.
She was visibly upset
after seeing the injured attendant
who Thacker says fell backward
as the plane ascended.
CNN correspondent Gabe
Cohen joins me now.
Gabe, first
tell me how these jets
got so close together.
There's so many systems,
failsafe, failsafe,
some automatic humans
involved in air traffic control.
How did this happen?
Yeah, and that's the big question
that the FAA
is investigating at this point.
Let me lay out, though,
exactly how this played out,
what we know at this point.
So, Allegiant,
this flight takes off from Fort
Lauderdale on Sunday
headed for Kentucky,
right around the Orlando area.
It's about 23,000 feet up
when suddenly the pilot
is told to go east.
We have this statement
from the FAA explaining what happened.
They basically said
that air traffic control
in Miami directed the pilot
to turn eastbound over
the ocean
at that 23,000 feet a foot altitude
when it crossed in front of a northbound
Gulfstream business jet.
So at that point,
these two aircraft
are headed in the same path.
But both pilots
fortunately got an automated alert
that basically there was another plane
flying at the same altitude.
An immediate action needed to be taken.
Bear in mind,
they were about two
and a half miles apart.
That may sound like a big distance,
but this yeah,
this is airborne highway traffic speeds.
We're talking about seconds
not minutes here.
Both of those pilots, though,
took those evasive actions.
The Allegiant plane went up,
the jet went down,
and they were able to avoid the disaster
but we know that the Allegiance maneuver,
that pilot's
maneuver was dramatic enough
that it injured at least one
flight attendant on board.
They had to turn back to Fort Lauderdale.
So that person
could get medical attention.
And remember,
it's rare
that an incident like this, a pilot's
maneuver, ends in an injury.
We sometimes hear about it
with turbulence, but this is really rare.
I mean, they had to move quickly here.
So anecdotally,
it seems like we have seen
a remarkable number
of these
in recent months,
both in the air
and on the ground, statistically.
Are these near-misses happening
more often?
Yeah, well, that's been the conversation
throughout the year.
And we have heard people
like transportation
secretary people to
talk about early in the year,
a surge in close
calls, especially incursions
involving at least one plane
that was sitting on a runway.
And we know the FAA has faced
intense scrutiny, claims
that air traffic control is understaffed,
using outdated systems.
And they have taken
precautions, taken measures
to address this.
They held that safety summit.
You might remember earlier in the year.
They added new guidelines,
guidelines for air traffic control
and stood up a new
regular training program
to try to make sure
that air traffic controllers
stay sharp,
that they don't make mistakes, that
we don't have close calls
like the incident we just saw.
But but remember, as much as experts
and officials
in this field tout the safety measures
and the safety track record
that's in place for the airline industry.
We're talking about an FAA
that has not had
a confirmed administrator
for more than a year now.
President Biden tried to appoint
a administrator
that was then resigned under scrutiny.
And so there are a lot of questions
when you look at an incident like this
as to whether some of the changes
they've put in place are working.
How long can they keep
that really,
really good track record pace
We've also heard
the transportation secretary
talk about how many more
air traffic controllers
they want to need to hire.
Gabe Cohen, thanks so much.
So what was it
like on that jet as this happened?
Joining me now,
Erica Thacker,
who, as we mentioned
earlier, was on board.
Jerrica, thanks so much for joining.
I'm glad you're okay.
I'm glad other folks on
that flight are okay.
First, tell us what it was like as
a pilot had to make this residency move
out of the way of this other jet
Well, at that time,
we thought it was turbulence,
which was still scary at the time
because I had never been through that.
But when he came on the intercom
and let us know that we were actually
trying to miss the other airplane,
it was like an intensified
all that feared that happened.
And it was like a roller coaster
the way that we had to go up
and down to miss the plane
and then level back out to the
what we were supposed to be at.
Goodness.
What was the reaction on board
from yourself and from others
when you heard the pilot
say, that's what I had to do.
I had to steer us out of the way
People started crying.
They hear people praying.
And everyone who was at a window seat
started to close their windows
because everybody was too scared
to look outside of what was around us.
Goodness.
Now, you say you saw the flight attendant
who was thrown during this maneuver
get get hurt. What did you see
Well, when I
after I looked over, after
we had finally stable out,
I saw that two fire
tenants were on the ground.
And when one got up, the other one
stayed on the ground.
And the one who got up said, oh, my God,
she hit her head.
So she stayed laying on the ground
for about 5 minutes.
When they finally were able
to get her up
and move
her back to the back of the plane
and then asked
if there was any
medical professionals on board,
which they eventually found one
and brought her back with that injured
flight attendant and did it.
Were they able to find a doctor on board
who could take care of her immediately?
There was a woman on board
who went back with her.
I'm not sure what they did.
Back there,
but she did go back to help her out.
Now, as I understand it, this incredibly
was only the second time
you've been on a plane,
your second flight
Yes.
What?
First of all, I'm glad you're well.
How are you doing now?
And what are you thinking
I'm doing a lot better.
It's still it's not like
I go through the day
without in the back of my head.
But when you lay down to go to bed, it's
still in the back.
Of your head there
that the thing
that you almost went through,
the fact
that I could have died in a few seconds
and still talking about it
now, I just now got to the point
where I could actually talk about
what actually happened
during the incident, avoiding the plane,
because it was kind
of blanked out in my mind.
And I didn't realize
when I was talking to people about it
that I was completely skipping
the actual incident.
Yeah, that's
listen, that's
it's a it's often
a typical reaction to trauma.
Can I ask you,
first of all,
get the help
you need to talk to folks about it.
That's important.
Do you think you'll get it
back on a plane someday?
There is a very slim chance
that I will step onto another plane.
But I can tell you
if it ever does come to that point,
I will not be going on Allegiant
My goodness.
Did they reach out to you?
Apologize No.
We did receive a $100 voucher
for a future floor,
but there was no real communication
with the Legion at all.
Goodness.
The size of the truck.
And they lied about what happened.
They lied how
well, my mother called once we landed
because we needed help to
get a rental car
because we didn't have
that kind of money on us.
And so my mom called and was like,
Is there any way you guys can help
my family get a rental car to get home?
Because they were on that airplane
that almost hit another airplane.
And Allegiant told my mom
you have the wrong information.
The plane was turned around
because the pilot got sick
and hung up on. Really?
Goodness gracious.
Wow.
Well, that's certainly not fair to you.
Listen, you know, statistically, it's
still the safest way to travel.
We know that.
But but, boy, having gone
what you go through, I just hope
I hope you get over it soon.
And I'm glad you're safe now.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
Thanks so much for joining us,
Erica Thacker.