Unauthorized Air France turn after takeoff from LAX causes 301 ft vertical separation with American A321

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.

Close call at LAX on Saturday. AF028 and AA1660 took off seconds apart and both turned left on climb-out.

Our ADS-B shows them about 300 ft apart vertically at 1.6 nm, with the closest pass at 0.76 nm.

ATC turned them apart. Here’s what our network saw pic.twitter.com/Myj0eKRSyt

— wingbits (@wingbits) November 8, 2026

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.

NEW: Air France Airbus A350 came dangerously close to an American Airlines A321 on departure from Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday.

In the ATC audio clip the controller questioned the Air France pilots about why they had failed to follow the assigned departure… pic.twitter.com/2qm2KEf0FD

— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) November 8, 2026

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.

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