Plane nearly collides with American Airlines aircraft over LAX with shell-shocked pilot heard in flight audio: ‘Give me a minute’
Two passenger planes averted a massive accident after they almost collided midair over Los Angeles International Airport, aviation authorities said.
An Air France flight flying to Papeete nearly hit an American Airlines plane after the pilot of the European airline took an ‘unauthorized turn,’ the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told People.
The incident took place at around 12.20am on November 7 when the two planes were departing from the airbase, the outlet reported.
FAA officials said that Air France Flight 28 departed the LAX airport and ‘went into the path of another aircraft that departed from a parallel runway.’
When asked on the ATC radio what procedure the pilots were following, an aviator was heard saying, ‘Give me a minute.’
The two planes, which likely had 500 passengers on board combined, were approximately one nautical mile apart, according to FlightRadar24 data.
The authorities added that the accident was prevented because of the quick response from the traffic control room.
‘Air traffic control immediately issued corrective instructions to the Air France flight,’ the officials said.
An Air France flight nearly hit an American Airlines plane after the pilot of the European airline took an unauthorized turn
The two planes, which likely had 500 passengers on board combined, were departing from Los Angeles airport on November 7
An audio recording of the conversation between the pilots and the ATC team revealed that a controller immediately alerted the Air France crew about the possible collision.
‘Air France 028 heavy, fly heading of 270 immediately. Traffic alert, traffic 12 o’clock, less than a mile, maintain 2,000,’ the controller said.
The team then asked the pilot why he veered from the path that was pre-programmed for the plane.
‘Air France 028 Heavy, you were instructed to climb via [Standard Instrument Departure Route] SID, not turn a heading,’ the ATC member said.
A Standard Instrument Departure Route is a predetermined route programmed into an aircraft’s computer that helps it to stay on course manually or with autopilot.
The pilot told the controller that they were instructed to do so.
‘We were instructed to fly SUMMR TWO departure,’ another pilot was heard saying.
The controller then asked the pilots to contact authorities and discuss the probable cause for the incident.
‘Possible pilot deviation. I have a number for you to call when you’re ready,’ the controller told the pilots.
‘Sorry about that. That aircraft just turned in front of you,’ the controller told the American Airlines pilots later after the crash was averted.
The Air France aircraft landed safely at its destination at 5.59am, an airline spokesperson confirmed with KTLA.
