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SANTA ANA, Calif. () — 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.
“We’re going to be addressing that because that was not good,” an Air Traffic Controller told the pilot of the United aircraft, radio traffic shows.
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.
“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.
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.
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“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.
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