Passengers aboard a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 that took a dramatic plunge to avoid an oncoming aircraft were told by the pilot that they nearly struck another plane before landing safely in Las Vegas.

The incident happened on American Airlines Flight 3023, which was scheduled to fly from Denver to Miami. The problem was reported while the aircraft was still on the runway.

The Denver Fire Department said it responded to the incident and managed to extinguish the fire. “All 173 passengers and six crew members on board the Boeing 737 Max 8 were safely removed from the aircraft,” Fox News reported. Five people were evaluated for injuries but did not require hospitalisation. However, one person was taken to a medical facility for a minor injury, according to Fox News.

In a statement to Fox Business, American Airlines said, “American Airlines Flight 3023 experienced a mechanical issue on take-off roll at Denver International Airport (DEN). All customers and crew members deplaned safely, and the aircraft was taken out of service for inspection by our maintenance team. We thank our team members for their professionalism and apologise to our customers for their experience.”

The airline confirmed that the aircraft had a maintenance issue with a tyre, and the affected passengers would travel to Miami on a replacement flight later the same day.

Caitlin Burdi, who was on the flight, said it took a short plunge and then a more drastic drop as passengers screamed in terror.

“We really thought we were plummeting to a plane crash,” Burdi told Fox News Digital in an interview at the Las Vegas airport. She said the pilot told passengers they had nearly collided with another plane.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the flight, Southwest 1496, was responding to an onboard alert about another aircraft in its vicinity. The FAA is investigating. Southwest said the crew responded to two alerts that required the pilot to climb then descend. The flight left Hollywood Burbank Airport just before noon.

Another passenger was panicking and said that she wanted “to get off this plane”. The plane was in the same airspace near Burbank as a Hawker Hunter Mk. 58, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware. Records show it is owned by Hawker Hunter Aviation, a British defence contracting company.

Southwest said the flight continued to Las Vegas, “where it landed uneventfully”. The airline said that it is working with the FAA “to further understand the circumstances” of the event.

This close call is just the latest incident to raise questions about aviation safety in the wake of January’s midair collision over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.