FAA Says Air France Jet Turned Into Another Aircraft’s Departure Path at LAX

LOS ANGELES — Air France (AF) Flight 28 made an unauthorized turn after departing Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on November 7, entering the path of an aircraft departing a parallel runway, according to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) statement reported by CNN on November 9.

CNN identified the aircraft as an Airbus A350 bound for Tahiti and the other flight as American Airlines (AA) Flight 1660, an Airbus A321 headed to Dallas. Controllers issued corrective instructions, and both flights continued safely to their destinations.

In recorded communications cited by CNN, a controller directed the Air France crew onto a heading of 270 degrees immediately, then questioned why the aircraft had turned away from its assigned departure.

Air France told NBC Los Angeles that its crew received an instruction to adjust the flight path shortly after takeoff and immediately complied before continuing the flight. That response does not explain the initial turn.

What the Departure Chart Establishes

As procedural context, the FAA's SUMMR TWO departure chart valid on November 7 specifies different initial waypoints for LAX's parallel runways. For example, from Runway 24L, the published route calls for an initial climb on heading 251 degrees before proceeding direct to DLREY. From Runway 25R, the initial heading is the same, but the next waypoint is DOCKR.

The comparison illustrates why a procedure's name alone does not identify an aircraft's initial route. It does not establish which procedure Flight 28 was cleared to fly. The chart cannot show the actual clearance, subsequent controller instructions or cockpit programming.

What Remains Unknown

The FAA statement quoted by CNN establishes the unauthorized turn and controller response. It does not establish the cause or an official minimum separation between the aircraft. Air France's response, as reported by NBC, also does not explain why the initial turn occurred.

The published chart provides a basis for examining the assigned route, but establishing any connection with earlier departure deviations would require official findings for the individual events. The sources reviewed for this report do not establish such a connection.