A Boeing jumbo jet almost collided with a US military helicopter in a near-miss which left air traffic controllers reeling.
United flight 589, a Boeing 737-800, missed a Black Hawk military helicopter by just a few hundred feet on its approach to a California airport on Tuesday night.
The jumbo jet was headed to John Wayne Airport, in Santa Ana, California, at 8.40pm (3.40am GMT).
One controller said he would address the incident, describing it as "not good".
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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has now said it is investigating the incident to determine if it violated a new policy that bans visual separation for helicopters near major airports.
The United flight came close enough to the military craft to receive an "resolution advisory" from its traffic avoidance system.
An air traffic controller said: "United 589 just want to clarify here did you get uh… just a traffic call reference to the helicopter or did they restrict your altitude or anything?"
The pilot responded: "We had a resolution advisory for United 589, RA."
The Black Hawk helicopter completed a routine training mission and was on return to a joint forces base in Los Alamitos, California
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On the flight, which departed from San Francisco, California, were 162 passengers and six crew members.
The California Army National Guard confirmed the helicopter belonged to the military and said it was based at the Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos.
The helicopter was returning to Los Alamitos, California after a routine training mission and was in communication with air traffic control.
The National Guard said: "A thorough review will be conducted in coordination with the appropriate agencies."
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The United flight received a resolution advisory, alerting the pilot of the possibility of a collision
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On Thursday, legislation was passed to address concerns between helicopters and airplanes.
Concerns around visual separation, where pilots use their eyes to measure the distance between aircraft rather than radio instruments, stemmed follows several incidents between helicopters and commercial aircraft.
In January 2025, an American Airlines regional jet and a military Black Hawk helicopter collided in mid air and killed 67 people near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Another incident was a near miss between an American flight and a police helicopter near San Antonio International Airport in Texas.
The incident occurred near John Wayne Airport, in California
|WIKIMEDIA/DON RAMEY LOGAN
In a third incident, referenced in the new FAA rules, a Beechcraft 99 was set to land at Burbank Airport in California when a helicopter had to make a left turn on its final approach path to avoid collision with the flight.
United Airlines issued a statement in response to the incident.
It 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 United flight then landed safely."