The FAA is investigating an incident that caused a Spirit Airlines flight from Detroit to Dallas to descend sharply and unexpectedly to avoid a skydiving plane over Tecumseh, Mich.
Fox 2: Air traffic controllers notified the Spirit pilot that a skydiving jump plane was climbing just south of the jetliner's position," FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said in an email. "The Spirit pilot confirmed that he could see the smaller aircraft on his Terminal Collision Avoidance System. ... A minute later, the Spirit jet received an automated TCAS warning that required him to begin an immediate 1,600-foot descent to 12,800 feet from a previous altitude of 14,400 feet."
At the closest, the two planes were 1.6 miles apart horizontally and 400 feet vertically, Cory said.
The sudden dive caught the passengers unaware, said Janet Dunnabeck of Whitney, Texas, who was returning with her 10- and 19-year-old daughters from a visit with Michigan relatives.
"It was horrifying," Dunnabeck told The Associated Press. "Every person on that plane was screaming. We thought we were going down."
Passengers were not informed of why the plane was descending until after the manuever was completed.
To have flown Spirit Airlines, it seems, is to have a complaint about Spirit Airlines. Company CEO Ben Baldanza dismisses such complaints (Spirit's complaint rate is 2.5 times higher than any other commercial airline, according to a 2012 Fox News report) as "irrelevant."
So, it might be tempting to assume the discount carrier is responsible for this incident. However, it appears from initial reports that this maybe wasn't Spirit's fault. An FAA spokesman told Fox 2 that it was likely the skydiving plane's responsibility to be aware of and avoid other aircraft.
Still, you have to hand it to Spirit for this empathetic statement about their customers' experience: "Our pilots followed appropriate procedures and adjusted their flight path upon receiving an advisory of another possible aircraft in range," [spokeswoman Misty] Pinson said in an email. "The flight continued to Dallas/Fort Worth without incident."
Without incident, you know, except for that one harrowing "thought we were going down" situation.
