An Air France plane narrowly avoided colliding with another plane in Los Angeles

The takeoff could have turned into a tragedy. On the night of Friday November 6 to Saturday November 7, two airliners came dangerously close after leaving Los Angeles International Airport, in the United States. An Air France Airbus A350 deviated from its assigned trajectory, finding itself near an American Airlines aircraft. Air traffic control had to intervene urgently to avoid a collision.

Air France flight AF28, bound for Papeete, French Polynesia, took off around 12:15 a.m. local time from runway 24L. About a minute later, an American Airlines Airbus A321, operating flight AA1660 to Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, took off from runway 25R.

The control tower intervenes urgently

According to the first elements reported by the specialized media, the French aircraft made a left turn not planned in its departure procedure, thus getting closer to the trajectory of the American flight. Data from Flightradar24 shows a separation of approximately 1.3 kilometers horizontally and 1,000 feet vertically, or 305 meters, when the planes were closest, around 12:18 a.m. Other media, however, cite a vertical separation of 400 feet, or 122 meters.

The radio exchanges relayed by BNO News, an independent international press agency, trace the intervention of the controller responsible for departures. “Take heading 270 immediately,” he orders the Air France crew, asking them to head west. At the same time, he ordered American Airlines pilots to maintain an altitude of 2,000 feet, or approximately 610 meters, and alerted them to the presence of the other plane in front of them, less than a mile away.

The Air France crew followed the instructions and turned the A350 towards the west, a maneuver which re-established a safe distance between the two planes. The controller then seeks to understand the origin of the maneuver. “Under what procedure did you take off? I need an answer,” he says to the French crew, who are slow to respond. He finally asks her to write down a telephone number to come back to the circumstances of the incident. He then addresses the American pilots: “Sorry, the plane turned right in front of you, due to the pilot’s deviation.” “Well received, great job,” replied one of them, welcoming his intervention.

The reasons for the shift remain to be clarified

According to the first available information, the Airbus A350 had received instructions to follow the SUMMR2 departure procedure, which defines the trajectory to take after takeoff. The reason for this unexpected turn, however, has not been established at this stage.

Despite this scare, the two planes were finally able to continue their route to their respective destinations, without any injuries or material damage being reported. This episode reminds us of the importance of departure procedures and coordination between crews and air traffic controllers, in order to avoid a tragedy.