Air France jet turned into another plane's path after leaving LAX, FAA says
An Air France flight made an unauthorized turn after takeoff from LAX early Saturday and crossed the path of an American Airlines jet. Controllers steered both planes apart.
By LA This Weekend Team · November 9, 20260 views
Two passenger jets came too close for comfort shortly after taking off from LAX just after midnight on Saturday, Nov. 7, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. NBC Los Angeles reported that Air France Flight 28, bound for Tahiti, made what the FAA called an unauthorized turn and moved into the path of an American Airlines plane that had departed from a parallel runway.
What to know
- The FAA said air traffic control "immediately issued corrective instructions to the Air France flight," NBC Los Angeles reported. In control tower audio, the Air France crew is told to change its path "immediately."
- The Air France plane came within 300 to 400 vertical feet of the American Airlines Airbus headed to Dallas, according to NBC News as cited by NBC Los Angeles.
- ABC7 reported the incident happened around 12:20 a.m. and that FlightRadar24 data shows the planes came within about one nautical mile of each other.
- Simple Flying reported the Air France jet was an Airbus A350 operating as AF28 to Papeete, and the American jet was an Airbus A321 operating as AA1660 to Dallas/Fort Worth. Both continued to their destinations with no reported injuries.
- Air France said its crew followed the controller's instructions right away. The FAA told ABC7 its findings are preliminary and the investigation is ongoing.
Our take
LAX is one of the busiest airports in the country, and it sits right next to Westchester, Playa del Rey and El Segundo. Most of us never think about what happens in the first two minutes after takeoff, and this is a reminder that controllers and crews are doing a lot of quiet work up there. We will watch for what the FAA's final findings say. Do you fly out of LAX on late-night flights? Has anything about the airport changed how you travel?
Sources
- NBC Los Angeles: Unauthorized turn placed Air France jet in path of another plane at LAX, FAA says
- ABC7: Air France flight nearly hits American Airlines plane after taking off from LAX
- Simple Flying: Air France A350 nearly collides midair with American A321 after wrong turn at LAX
File photo: the LAX airfield with the control tower and Theme Building by DreCube, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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LA This Weekend Team