Controllers intervened after an Air France A350 departed its assigned route and moved toward an American Airlines jet climbing nearby.
LOS ANGELES, CA — An Air France passenger jet made an unexpected left turn shortly after taking off from Los Angeles International Airport early Nov. 7, putting it on a converging path with an American Airlines aircraft that had departed from a parallel runway about a minute later, according to air traffic control recordings and flight-tracking reports.
Air France Flight 28, an Airbus A350-900 bound for Papeete in French Polynesia, departed Runway 24L at about 12:15 a.m. American Airlines Flight 1660, an Airbus A321 headed to Dallas-Fort Worth, departed Runway 25R about a minute later. The Air France crew had been assigned the SUMMR2 departure procedure but turned left during its climb, bringing the aircraft toward the American jet’s flight path. A departure controller quickly intervened to separate them.
The controller directed the Air France aircraft to turn immediately to a heading of 270 degrees, sending it back toward the west. The American crew, which had reported climbing through 2,000 feet toward 5,000 feet, received a traffic alert and was instructed to maintain 2,000 feet. The American pilots acknowledged the order and stopped their climb while the Air France jet changed course.
Available flight-tracking estimates differ on exactly how close the aircraft came. Data cited from the Wingbits tracking network indicated the jets were about 300 feet apart vertically while separated by roughly 1.6 nautical miles horizontally. The same data placed their closest horizontal separation at about 0.76 nautical miles. Other published accounts estimated the vertical separation at about 400 feet. Those figures are preliminary and describe different points as the aircraft converged and then separated.
After the immediate conflict had passed, the controller questioned the Air France crew about the turn. Air traffic control recordings indicate the controller reminded the pilots that they had been instructed to climb using their assigned standard departure procedure rather than turn onto a different heading. The crew initially asked for additional time before later confirming that it had been assigned the SUMMR2 departure.
The controller subsequently advised the Air France pilots of a possible pilot deviation and provided a telephone number for follow-up. Such a notice can begin a review of whether a crew failed to follow an air traffic control clearance, but it does not by itself establish fault. No official finding explaining why the Air France aircraft turned away from its assigned departure route had been made public in the reporting reviewed Monday.
Both aircraft continued to their destinations after controllers restored separation. No injuries or aircraft damage were reported in connection with the encounter. The available reports also did not establish whether either aircraft received a resolution advisory from its onboard traffic collision avoidance system, which can direct pilots to climb or descend when aircraft are at risk of getting too close.
The incident has also drawn attention because other aircraft have made unexpected turns after departing Runway 24L. On Oct. 20, a TAP Air Portugal Airbus A330 departing for Lisbon made an unexpected left turn and was redirected by controllers. A separate incident on Oct. 31, 2025, involved an ITA Airways Airbus A330 that turned toward the path of an American Airlines aircraft after taking off from the same runway. Controllers intervened in that event as well. No official finding has established that the incidents share a common cause.
LAX has four parallel runways, with departing aircraft routinely assigned procedures designed to keep traffic on predictable paths as flights climb away from the airport. Published information about the SUMMR2 departure calls for aircraft using the west-facing runways to follow an initial heading before proceeding toward assigned navigation points. A premature turn can reduce the spacing between aircraft leaving different runway complexes at roughly the same time.
As of Monday, the reason for Flight 28’s unexpected turn remained publicly unexplained. The air traffic recordings and tracking data establish that controllers identified the developing conflict and issued instructions that restored separation, but they do not establish what occurred inside the Air France cockpit before the turn. Both flights completed their trips without further reported incident.
Author note: Last updated November 9, 2026.