Late on the night of November 7, two passenger jets pulling away from Los Angeles International Airport drifted closer together than the sky allows, a reminder of how much depends on a few seconds of coordinated attention. An Air France crew, departing on a route it had been assigned, turned without clearance into the path of an American Airlines flight climbing from a neighboring runway. The controllers on the ground moved quickly, and the moment passed without collision, but the question of why a practiced crew strayed from its instructions still hangs over the record. For now the answer is
Air France Jet Makes Unauthorized Turn, Nearly Colliding With American Airlines Flight After LAX Takeoff
They came within 400 feet of each other and less than one mile.
Mark
So what actually happened over LA that night?
Mimi
Shortly after midnight on Nov. 7, an Air France jet turned left after takeoff without clearance and crossed toward an American Airlines flight that had left from a parallel runway.
Mark
And the controller caught it?
Mimi
Yes. The audio has the controller ordering Air France to heading 270 immediately, then warning American 1660 about traffic less than a mile ahead and telling it to hold 2,000 feet.
Luke
How close did they get? I see 400 feet quoted.
Mimi
That figure comes from Steven Arroyo, a retired captain who wasn't involved. He said 400 feet and under a mile.
Luke
So it's an expert's estimate, not an FAA number. The FAA's statement confirms the unauthorized turn and the path conflict, but it doesn't give a distance in what we have.
Mark
What was the crew supposed to be doing?
Mimi
Climbing via the SID. The crew later confirmed it had the SUMMR TWO departure. The controller said they were told to follow that, not turn to a heading.
Luke
And why they turned is unknown. The pilot said only "Give me a minute." No airline has commented yet.
Mark
Is this a pattern?
Mimi
Arroyo says it has happened several times at LAX in recent years, but he also says incidents like this are very rare.
Luke
That's his characterization too. Nothing in the reporting documents those earlier cases, so I'd hold it loosely.
El Pulso
- At 12:20 a.m., an Air France jet turned without clearance and slipped into the path of an American Airlines flight just after takeoff from LAX.
- Controllers barked orders in real time, telling one crew to fly heading 270 immediately and the other to level off at 2,000 feet.
- The two aircraft came within roughly 400 feet and less than a mile of each other, close enough to alarm a veteran captain.
- The crew admitted only after the fact that they had been assigned the SUMMR TWO departure, and their confusion remains unexplained.
- The FAA is preparing a closer look, with scrutiny sharpened by similar incidents at LAX in recent years.
Late on the night of November 7, two passenger jets pulling away from Los Angeles International Airport drifted closer together than the sky allows, a reminder of how much depends on a few seconds of coordinated attention. An Air France crew, departing on a route it had been assigned, turned without clearance into the path of an American Airlines flight climbing from a neighboring runway. The controllers on the ground moved quickly, and the moment passed without collision, but the question of why a practiced crew strayed from its instructions still hangs over the record. For now the answer is unwritten, and the Federal Aviation Administration's promised review will decide whether this brief near-miss becomes a lesson or a pattern.
Shortly after 12:20 a.m. on November 7, two passenger jets that had just left Los Angeles International Airport found themselves far too close to each other. Air France Flight 28 and American Airlines Flight 1660 had departed from parallel runways, and the Air France crew turned without clearance, moving into the other plane's path.
Air traffic control audio captured the scramble. The controller ordered the Air France pilots onto heading 270 at once, then warned the American pilots of traffic at their twelve o'clock, less than a mile away, and told them to hold 2,000 feet. The American crew acknowledged and climbed back to that altitude.
Retired airline captain Steven Arroyo, who was not involved, described the Air France jet making an unannounced left turn toward the American aircraft, bringing them within about 400 feet. He called it dangerously close, but credited controllers for turning the Air France jet west before the paths converged.
Afterward, the controller asked the Air France crew what they had been told. They had been assigned the SUMMR TWO departure, a published route from LAX, and not a heading. The pilots were instructed to resume it. Why they turned instead remains unexplained, and neither airline had commented when the report was published.
The FAA has confirmed the basics and says it will take a closer look, given similar incidents at LAX in recent years. Such events are rare, but the review will determine whether this one was an isolated lapse or part of a larger pattern.
At about 12:20 a.m. on Nov. 7, two passenger jets that had just left Los Angeles International Airport ended up closer together than they should have been. One was Air France Flight 28. The other was American Airlines Flight 1660. They had taken off from parallel runways, and the Air France crew turned without clearance.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the basics in a statement to Fox News Digital. Its account was that the crew of Air France 28 made an unauthorized turn after departure and went into the path of another aircraft that had departed from a parallel runway.
Air traffic control audio captured the exchange as controllers worked to separate the planes. A controller told the Air France crew to fly heading 270 immediately. Moments later the controller warned the American Airlines pilots of traffic at 12 o'clock, less than a mile away, and told them to maintain 2,000 feet. An American pilot answered that they would go back to 2,000.
Steven Arroyo, a retired airline captain based in Florida, reviewed the incident for Fox News Digital. He was not connected to it. He said the Air France jet departed from the north side of the airport on a runway parallel to the one American used, then made an unannounced left turn toward the American aircraft. In his estimate, the two came within 400 feet of each other and less than a mile laterally. He called that dangerously close.
Once the immediate conflict was resolved, the controller asked the Air France crew what had happened. The crew had been told to climb via the SID, or Standard Instrument Departure, not to turn to a heading. The FAA's procedures describe a SID as a published departure route that can be assigned as part of a flight clearance. The controller asked which departure the crew believed it had been given. A pilot replied, "Give me a minute," and the controller said no problem. The crew later confirmed it had been assigned the SUMMR TWO departure, a published procedure from LAX, and was instructed to resume the route.
The FAA said controllers issued corrective instructions immediately after the Air France jet entered the American flight's path. Arroyo praised that response. He said air traffic control was extremely proactive and turned the Air France aircraft west before it converged with the American flight. He called the controller's work exceptional.
He also said the FAA will certainly want to look closer, especially since he says similar incidents have happened several times at LAX in recent years. At the same time, he noted that events like this are very, very rare. Fox News Digital reached out to both airlines for comment, and neither response was included in the report.
What remains open is why the crew turned instead of following the assigned departure. The audio shows the pilots confirming the SUMMR TWO assignment only afterward, and no explanation has been given publicly. The FAA's closer look is the thing to watch.
Citas Notables
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.— Federal Aviation Administration statement
This air traffic controller did an exceptional job.— Steven Arroyo, retired airline captain
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