Aircraft with 168 people on board received maximum anti-collision alert at John Wayne Airport; FAA investigates the incident
A United Airlines Boeing 737 with 168 people on board almost collided with a Black Hawk military helicopter on Wednesday (March 25, 2026). The incident took place in the United States,in Santa Ana, California, when the aircraft had its approach to landing interrupted by the helicopter. THE (Federal Aviation Administration) confirmed the case. The plane landed without problems after the pilots received a traffic alert and leveled the aircraft.
According to a report from the commercial aircraft was traveling from San Francisco to Santa Ana when air traffic controllers informed the pilots of the presence of the Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter nearby.
“They saw the helicopter, and also received a traffic alert, to which they responded by leveling the aircraft.”declared the “The United flight then landed safely.”
The alert received by pilots is the most serious among the anti-collision alerts available. It demands immediate action and tells pilots exactly what to do to avoid a collision.
Preliminary radar data from Flightradar24 shows the two aircraft were 525 feet vertically apart. The lateral distance was just 1,422 feet — about 0.27 miles, or 435 meters — when the helicopter crossed in front of the United plane. The incident occurred around 8:40 pm local time (0:40 am in Brasília), according to the FAA.
The California National Guard confirmed this Thursday (March 26, 2026) that it was an Army National Guard helicopter involved in the incident. The aircraft was conducting a “routine training mission” and returned to the airfield at Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos.
The helicopter followed “along an established Visual Flight Rules route at a designated altitude while in communication with air traffic control”according to a statement from the National Guard. The helicopter also landed safely.
The FAA said it is investigating the incident, “including whether a new measure to suspend the use of visual separation between planes and helicopters has been applied”. O (National Transportation Safety Board) said it was aware of the case but had no additional details to share at this time.
“A thorough review will be conducted in coordination with the appropriate agencies”the California National Guard said in a statement.
The incident comes 2 days after an Air Canada regional jet Firefighters from the Port Authority shortly after landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The collision killed 2 pilots and injured more than 12 passengers.
