Common flying fears of fires breaking aboard, windows breaking open or an in-air collision are, for the most part, so rare as to enter the territory of irrational.
But occasionally, an in-air emergency does break out and hit the news — on July 23, an Allegiant Air flight going to Lexington, Kentucky from the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida came a little too close to a plane flying in the same direction.
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According to the report released by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the pilot of Allegiant Air Flight 485 "received an automated alert about another aircraft at the same altitude" and immediately "took evasive action" (read: made a sudden climb 600 feet up in the air) to avoid a crash.
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'It Honestly Felt Like A Roller Coaster,' Passengers Report
The pilot of the incoming plane, a private Gulfstream jet, also had to make a sudden swerve in order to avoid a collision. The Allegiant Air pilot had, according to the FAA, first "received an automated alert about another aircraft at the same altitude" and was then instructed "to turn eastbound at an altitude of 23,000 feet when it crossed in front of a northbound Gulfstream business jet" by a traffic controller at the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center.
Based out of Nevada's Summerlin, Allegiant Air is an ultra-low-cost airline that flies to small and mid-size cities in the U.S. as well as certain destinations in Canada and Mexico.
"My first flight was my way to Fort Lauderdale, so this was my second flight, going back home," Jerrica Thacker, a 21-year-old passenger on the Allegiant Air flight, reported to Fox News. "It honestly felt like a roller coaster, like when you come down from the highest point, and then you take a big hill."
Two flight attendants were suddenly thrust backward and one was later treated with injuries. The plane returned back to Fort Lauderdale to examine the situation.
"We were all too shook up to fly again," Thacker said in another interview on the experience.
Bad Flight Experiences And PR Damage
While rare, such situations do great reputational damage to budget airlines in particular — as their business models rely on luring passengers in with rock-bottom prices but making a profit through charges for everything from baggage to onboard food and selected seating, many passengers complain about the "bad service."
According to its annual North America Airline Satisfaction Study, fellow budget airlines Spirit (SAVE) -) and Frontier Airlines had the lowest level of passenger satisfaction and the most complaints.
Another emergency situation to take place in the last few weeks occurred when, on July 6, an Alaska Airlines (ALK) -) flight from Atlanta to Seattle was diverted to Spokane, Washington after one of the passengers handed a flight attendant a note saying that he had "several pounds of homemade explosives" in his carry-on bag.
Later documents filed in U.S. District Court report Scott did not actually have explosives but made the threat in order to divert the plane and escape the members of the international Sinaloa Cartel he feared were waiting for him at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The passenger now faces charges related to false information and hoaxes on flight safety that could hand him a five-year prison sentence and $250,000 fine if convicted.
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