The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a close call in Southern California involving a passenger jet and a military helicopter near John Wayne Airport in Orange County, the agency said. The FAA said the incident happened around 8:40 p.m. Tuesday, when a military Black Hawk helicopter returning from a training mission crossed into the flight path of a United Airlines plane. During the approach, the passenger jet stopped its descent and leveled off after receiving a collision avoidance alarm, according to the FAA and United.
The FAA said Friday that it would look into what happened during the incident and whether a newer separation rule for helicopter and airplane operations near airports was applied. That question has taken on added importance because the close call is coming just over a year after an American Airlines jet collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C., killing 67 people and triggering increased scrutiny of how near-misses are prevented.
The FAA said the Tuesday close call occurred in Santa Ana, California, involving United flight 589. The United passenger flight carried 162 passengers and six crew members, and the pilots avoided the helicopter by leveling off rather than continuing descent, the FAA said. The agency said the helicopter was returning from a training mission when it crossed into the plane’s path, setting up the alarm and evasive response.
United said pilots were already on alert because air traffic control advised them to watch for a military helicopter flying near the airport. In its statement, the airline said: “During final approach to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, pilots on United flight 589 were advised by air traffic control to watch for a military helicopter flying near the airport. They saw the helicopter, and also received a traffic alert, which they responded to by leveling the aircraft.” The airline also said it received the collision-avoidance alert while responding to the traffic warning.
FlightRadar24 data cited in the report indicated the two aircraft came within 525 feet vertically and 1,422 feet laterally at the closest point. The report also described audio from the John Wayne Airport traffic control tower accessed through LiveATC.net showing the controller asking moments after the close call whether the passenger flight’s pilot had received a reference to the helicopter or had been told to restrict altitude. The pilot responded that he received a “resolution advisory,” described as the most serious collision avoidance alarm issued by the aircraft’s anti-collision software, and the controller said, “We’re going to be addressing that, because that was not good.”
A California National Guard spokesperson said the helicopter—based at Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos—was conducting routine training and returning to base at an assigned altitude while in communication with air traffic control. The report said it was unclear whether temporary restrictions on flight paths or training routes were in place after Tuesday’s incident. An airport spokeswoman said because the incident occurred in the air and not on airport property, she could not provide information.
The latest close call also arrived amid other aviation incidents, including an Air Canada collision with a fire truck on a runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport two days earlier, killing both pilots. It is not the first time the FAA has been pushed to revisit separation practices: earlier this month, the agency changed policy after the 2025 Washington crash, requiring air traffic controllers to actively use radar to direct helicopters and planes around airports nationwide rather than relying on pilots to see and avoid each other. The FAA said its investigation of Tuesday’s incident will include whether the new rule was followed.