Posted by Chinenye on Tue 10th Nov, 2026 - tori.ng
A plane belonging to Air France nearly crashed into another passenger plane at an airport in Los Angeles after making a wrong turn during takeoff.
(Air France. Photo by CNN)
An Air France plane taking off from Los Angeles accidentally turned the wrong way and nearly collided with an American Airlines plane according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administaration (FAA).
Air France Flight 28, an Airbus A350 bound for Tahiti, took off and turned south when it should have climbed straight ahead.
Moments later, American Airlines Flight 1660, an Airbus A321 headed for Dallas, was cleared to take off from a nearby parallel runway.
Air traffic control quickly told the Air France pilots to change course, and they did.
At their closest, the two planes were about 4,000 feet apart and within 1,000 feet of each other in height, according to Flightradar24.
Both planes landed safely at their destinations.
The FAA said air traffic control gave the Air France crew corrective instructions straight away.
The controller also apologised to the American pilots, saying the other plane had turned in front of them.
This kind of mistake, known as a pilot deviation, can lead to penalties.
The incident comes after a difficult summer for U.S. aviation, which included plane crashes, emergency landings and several other close calls.
On 7 Nov, an Air France A350 departed 24L at LAX as an American A321 departed 25R. The Air France aircraft reportedly deviated from its assigned departure. Closest point was 08:17:59 UTC, with 0.694 nautical miles (1,285 metres) of lateral separation and 1,000 feet vertically. https://t.co/Kwc40d9czZ
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 8, 2026