Two passenger jets operated by Air France and American Airlines came dangerously close in the air after departing from Los Angeles International Airport recently.
The incident happened at about 12:20 a.m. on Nov. 7 after the Air France aircraft made a turn it had not been cleared to make, according to a statement the Federal Aviation Administration provided to Fox News Digital.
“The crew of Air France Flight 28 made an unauthorized turn after departing Los Angeles International Airport and went into the path of another aircraft that departed from a parallel runway,” the FAA said.
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Air traffic control audio captured the tense exchange as controllers worked to redirect the flights.
“Air France 028 heavy, fly heading of 270 immediately,” a controller can be heard telling the Air France crew.
Moments later, the controller issued a traffic alert to American Airlines Flight 1660, warning its pilots that another aircraft was directly ahead and less than a mile away.
“Traffic alert, traffic 12 o’clock, less than a mile, maintain 2,000,” the controller said.
“OK, we’ll go back to 2,000,” an American Airlines pilot responded.
Fox News Digital reached out to the two airlines for comment.
“Air France departed from the north side of Los Angeles Airport on a parallel runway from where an American Airlines aircraft took off,” Steven Arroyo, an aviation expert and retired airline captain based in Florida, observed to Fox News Digital (he was not connected to the incident).
“All of a sudden, unannounced, the Air France aircraft made … an unauthorized left-hand turn toward the American Airlines aircraft,” he said.
“They came within 400 feet of each other and less than one mile. That is dangerously close,” Arroyo noted.
Once the immediate conflict was addressed, the controller questioned the Air France crew about why the aircraft had turned.
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“Air France 028 heavy, you were instructed to climb via SID, not turn to a heading,” the controller said.
A SID, or Standard Instrument Departure, is a published departure procedure that can be assigned to an aircraft as part of its flight clearance, according to the FAA’s air traffic control procedures.
The controller then asked the Air France crew which departure procedure it had been instructed to follow.
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“Give me a minute,” a pilot responded.
“No problem,” the controller said.
The crew later confirmed it had been assigned the SUMMR TWO departure, a published departure procedure from LAX. It was instructed to resume the route, according to the audio.
The FAA said air traffic control immediately issued corrective instructions after the Air France aircraft entered the American Airlines jet’s path.
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“This was a very dangerous situation and thank goodness, air traffic control was extremely proactive and turned the Air France aircraft heading west before it converged with the American Airlines flight,” Arroyo said.
“The FAA will certainly want to take a closer look at this, especially since it’s happened several times already here in the past years,” he noted.
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Arroyo said, however, that “this air traffic controller did an exceptional job.”
He also pointed out that such aviation incidents are “very, very rare.”
