LOS ANGELES — Aviation authorities are reviewing a tense close call at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Saturday after an Air France Airbus A350 and an American Airlines Airbus A321 found themselves on converging flight paths just seconds after departing parallel runways.
The incident involved Air France Flight AF28 (an Airbus A350-900, registration F-HUVK), bound for Papeete, Tahiti, departing from runway 24L, and American Airlines Flight AA1660 (an Airbus A321-200), bound for Dallas–Fort Worth, departing from runway 25R. Shortly after airborne, both aircraft initiated left turns during climb-out, setting them on a direct conflict path.
Air Traffic Control (ATC) immediately recognized the hazard and stepped in, issuing urgent instructions for both crews to break turn and separate.
According to ADS-B tracking data provided by Wingbits, the two airliners came within 0.76 nautical miles laterally of one another, with vertical separation narrowing to approximately 300 feet at a distance of 1.6 nautical miles before safe spacing was re-established.
Audio recordings of the tower frequency capture the high-stakes moment. After executing the evasive maneuvers, the stress was evident in the Air France crew’s voices. Demonstrating textbook air traffic management, the controller allowed the crew a brief moment to collect themselves and clear their operational focus before requiring a formal readback of the instructions and addressing the potential pilot deviation.
No injuries were reported, and both flights subsequently continued safely to their respective destinations. FAA officials are expected to review flight recorder data and ATC audio to determine why both aircraft executed left turns simultaneously following departure.
