*

Plane took off from Burbank, California, headed for Las

Vegas

*

No passengers immediately reported injured, airline says

*

Incident comes one week after near-collision over North

Dakota

(Flight-tracker identifies second aircraft as military jet;

adds background on previous incidents involving military

aircraft, paragraphs 3, 5-6, 16-19)

By David Shepardson and Steve Gorman

WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) - Two flight attendants on

a Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) flight departing Burbank,

California, were injured on Friday after pilots took evasive

action to dodge another aircraft on takeoff, the airline said.

Southwest Flight 1496 sharply descended nearly 500 feet,

according to flight tracking websites, marking the second time

in a week that a U.S. commercial jet was forced to make abrupt

flight maneuvers to avoid a potential mid-air collision.

The incident also appeared to be the fourth involving

military aircraft since March.

The airline and the Federal Aviation Administration said the

Southwest ( LUV ) pilots took action after receiving cockpit alerts of

other aircraft traffic being dangerously close. The Southwest

Boeing 737 continued on to Las Vegas, where it landed

uneventfully.

Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 identified the other

aircraft as a Hawker Hunter fighter jet - British-built aircraft

- that crossed in front of the Southwest ( LUV ) flight.

The planes came within 4.86 miles (7.82 km) of each other

laterally and 350 feet (107 m) vertically. The U.S. Air Force

and Defense Department did not immediately respond to inquiries

regarding the military jet's presence near Burbank.

The FAA was investigating.

Two flight attendants were treated for injuries, the airline

said, without providing detail.

No injuries were immediately reported by passengers,

according to Southwest ( LUV ). But one passenger told Fox News Digital

the sharp descent stirred panic onboard.

"It was terrifying. We really thought we were plummeting to

a plane crash," Caitlin Burdi said in an on-camera interview.

After the incident, "the pilot came on (the intercom), and he

told us we almost collided with another plane."

According to a statement from Southwest ( LUV ), the incident began

when its crew responded to "two onboard traffic alerts" while

taking off from the Hollywood Burbank Airport north of Los

Angeles, "requiring them to climb and descend to comply with the

alerts."

THREE EARLIER CLOSE CALLS

In a separate incident one week ago, a SkyWest Airlines

jet operating as a Delta Connection flight from

Minneapolis reported taking evasive action to avoid a possible

collision with a U.S. Air Force bomber during a landing approach

over North Dakota on July 18.

The FAA said on Monday it was investigating last Friday's

near-miss incident involving SkyWest Flight 3788, an Embraer

ERJ-175 regional jet, which landed safely at Minot,

North Dakota.

The Air Force confirmed a B-52 jet bomber assigned to Minot

Air Force Base had conducted a ceremonial flyover of the North

Dakota State Fair last Friday around the time of the SkyWest ( SKYW )

incident.

The Air Force said the bomber cockpit crew was in contact

with local air traffic control before, during and after the

flyover, and that the Minot International Airport control tower

"did not advise of the inbound commercial aircraft" as the B-52

was departing the area.

The FAA has said that air traffic services were provided by

the Minot air traffic control tower, which is run by a private

company and not FAA employees.

The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are

investigating a March 28 close call involving a Delta Airbus

A319 jet and a group of Air Force jets near Reagan Washington

National Airport. The four Air Force T-38 Talons were heading to

nearby Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover at the time.

There has been intense focus on military traffic near

civilian airplanes since an Army helicopter collided with an

American Airlines regional jet on January 29 near Reagan

National, killing 67 people.

In early May, the FAA barred Army helicopter flights around

the Pentagon after another near miss.