A Southwest Airlines flight from Burbank made an emergency descent of 475 feet to avoid colliding with another aircraft before safely landing in Las Vegas on Friday.

The sudden maneuver was made during a Friday flight out of California after two collision safety alerts sounded in the cockpit, causing the pilots to take evasive action, the airline said.

Flight 1496 from Hollywood Burbank Airport to Las Vegas plummeted rapidly, lifting passengers out of their seats and injuring two flight attendants. The crew "responded to two onboard traffic alerts... requiring them to climb and descend to comply with the alerts", Southwest said in a statement.

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The passenger jet was responding to an alert of another aircraft in the vicinity, federal authorities said. A Cold War-era military plane was nearby at the time.

The incident occurred shortly after take off from Hollywood Burbank Airport with at least two flight attendants injured, reports say.