Southwest Airlines planes take evasive action to avoid collision in Nashville

Two Southwest Airlines planes had to take evasive action to avoid colliding Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee, after an air traffic controller directed one pilot to turn into the path of the other plane.

Last year, an American Airlines jet collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C., killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft.

Midair collisions are rare in commercial flights where the planes are equipped with systems to alert pilots about a potential collision.

Most of the close calls that happen every year involve small planes that don't have those systems, but the FAA couldn't immediately provide a number for close calls.

Both Southwest pilots told the tower that they received alarms from their collision avoidance systems.