The Federal Aviation Administration has opened an investigation after two passengers were injured on United Airlines flight when the pilots responded to an onboard midair collision system warning.
The incident took place at 31,000 feet as the flight was near Lake Berryessa, about 70 miles north of San Francisco.
United Airlines says as flight 2428 from Newark, New Jersey, was descending into San Francisco International Airport last Thursday, it “slowed its descent to account for another aircraft at a lower altitude.”
Both injured passengers were taken to the hospital, United said in a statement. The seatbelt sign was on at the time.
An FAA incident report says one passenger received serious injuries and another minor injuries last Thursday when the pilots responded to a traffic collision avoidance system resolution advisory or “TCAS RA.”
Audio from LiveATC.net captured the pilots declaring a medical emergency, telling air traffic controllers in Oakland that “someone might have broken an ankle and there’s passengers that got hurt when we had an RA.”
In a statement, the FAA said “there was no loss of safe separation.”