Overview
- A United Airlines Boeing 737 carrying 168 people came dangerously close to a U.S. Army Black Hawk around 8:40 p.m. local time during approach in California.
- The FAA opened a formal investigation focused on whether pilots or controllers relied on visual separation that the agency recently restricted near large airports.
- United said air traffic controllers warned its crew about the military helicopter, the pilots reported seeing it, and the flight later landed without incident.
- Public data from Flightradar24 suggest the aircraft were about 160 meters apart, though the FAA will rely on official radar and records to determine exact separation.
- The near-miss renews concern about controller workload and how civil and military flights share airspace after a deadly American Eagle–Black Hawk collision near Reagan National last year that killed 67 people.