The US Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how an Allegiant Air A320 and JetEdge Gulfstream G-IV came within just a few miles of each other at the same altitude off the coast of Florida on Sunday.
The video above shows Allegiant Air flight 485 operated by A320 N229NV moving from left to right, while the JetEdge Gulfstream G-IV N86MS flies through the center of the frame, both initially at 23,000 feet. The FAA says that both aircraft received traffic (TCAS) alerts and adjusted their flight paths accordingly. This is borne out in the data as the Allegiant flight climbs as JetEdge descends until clear of conflict.
FAA statement on the incident
Allegiant Air Flight 485, an Airbus A320, took evasive action on Sunday, July 23, after the pilot received an automated alert about another aircraft at the same altitude. An air traffic controller in the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center had instructed Flight 485 to turn eastbound at an altitude of 23,000 feet when it crossed in front of a northbound Gulfstream business jet. The pilot of the Gulfstream also took evasive action after receiving a similar alert. Flight 485 returned to Fort Lauderdale International Airport, where a flight attendant was treated for injuries. The FAA is investigating the incident.
Operating in close proximity
Both flights were on roughly parallel tracks at 23,000 feet flying north past Palm Bay, Florida when the Allegiant Air flight was turned east, put it into a crossing path with the JetEdge Gulfstream. Based on received ADS-B data from both flights, the Allegiant Air A320 crossed in front of the projected path of the Gulfstream at 17:53:31 UTC. At that time, the aircraft were separated 2.59 miles laterally and 1,175 feet vertically.
The JetEdge flight began descending below FL230 (23,000 feet) at 17:53:10. The Allegiant Air flight began climbing at 17:53:07.
The Allegiant Air flight returned to Fort Lauderdale landing at 18:34 UTC. The JetEdge Gulfstream proceeded to Hilton Head Island without further incident, touching down at 18:44.
Download Flightradar24 data
Flightradar24 data available for these flights include standard frequency update CSV and KML files as well as granular frequency snippets in CSV format for the time period surrounding the incident.
Aircraft information
The Allegiant Air flight was operated by an Airbus A320 registered N229NV. The Gulfstream G-IV registered N86MS was operated by JetEdge.
