Near miss at O.C. airport as helicopter crosses United jet’s path. ‘Not good,’ controller says

A Black Hawk helicopter passed directly in front of a United Airlines passenger jet Tuesday as the plane was landing at John Wayne Airport, federal officials said.

The close call occurred around 8:40 p.m. as a United Airlines Boeing 737, flying out of San Francisco, was approaching the Orange County airport and a Sikorsky helicopter “crossed in front of United’s flight path,” a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson said in an email.

In air traffic control audio reviewed by The Times, the pilot of the flight stated that they had received a resolution advisory about the helicopter — an automated alert to climb or descend to avoid a collision.

“We’re going to be addressing that, because that was not good,” the air traffic controller responded.

The two aircraft were within 1,422 feet of each other laterally, or a little more than a quarter of a mile, at the time of the near miss and 525 feet apart vertically, according to data from Flightradar24.

The jet was carrying 162 passengers and six crew members, a United spokesperson said in an email.

According to United, the plane’s pilots took action to avoid the helicopter.

The pilots “were advised by air traffic control to watch for a military helicopter flying near the airport,” the company said. “They saw the helicopter, and also received a traffic alert, which they responded to by leveling the aircraft. The United flight then landed safely.”

The FAA is investigating the incident, including whether “a new measure to suspend the use of visual separation between airplanes and helicopters was applied,” the agency spokesperson wrote. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Transportation mandated that air traffic controllers rely on radar to manage aircraft flight paths, barring them from instructing pilots to avoid aircraft based on sight.

The change was prompted by a review of the fatal collision between a passenger plane and a military helicopter in Washington, D.C., last year that killed 67 people on board the aircrafts.

“Today, we are proactively mitigating risks before they affect the traveling public,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in a statement announcing the policy change. “Following the mid-air collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), we looked at similar operations across the national airspace. We identified an overreliance on pilot ‘see and avoid’ operations that contribute to safety events involving helicopters and airplanes.”

Earlier this month, a Beechcraft 99 airplane and a helicopter were on converging paths after the plane had been cleared to land at Hollywood Burbank Airport, the FAA said. Last month, an American Airlines plane landing at San Antonio International Airport and a police helicopter were also on converging paths, the agency said. In both cases, the helicopters turned to avoid a collision.