An Air France Airbus A350 and an American Airlines Airbus A321 came dangerously close to one another shortly after taking off from Los Angeles International Airport, forcing air traffic control to intervene immediately and separate the two aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The incident happened on November 7, 2026, after Air France Flight AF28 departed LAX for Papeete, Tahiti, and made an unexpected left turn that brought it toward the flight path of American Airlines Flight AA1660, which had taken off from a parallel runway for Dallas-Fort Worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At their closest, the two aircraft were separated vertically by roughly 400 feet, or about 120 meters, according to initial flight-tracking reports. Both aircraft ultimately continued safely to their destinations, with no injuries or damage reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Air France Flight AF28, operated by an Airbus A350-900, took off from Runway 24L shortly after midnight local time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About a minute later, American Airlines Flight AA1660, an Airbus A321-200, departed from nearby Runway 25R on its way to Dallas-Fort Worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Air France crew had been cleared to follow the SUMMR2 departure procedure. Instead, shortly after takeoff, the aircraft reportedly began turning left, moving it closer to the departure path being flown by the American Airlines jet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Air traffic controllers quickly recognized the developing conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The controller ordered the Air France pilots to immediately fly a heading of 270 degrees, sending them west, while telling the American crew to stop its climb and remain at 2,000 feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The American Airlines pilots were also warned that traffic was less than one mile directly ahead of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Initial flight-tracking data put the minimum vertical separation at around 400 feet, or 121 meters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other ADS-B data reviewed after the incident suggested the distance may have become even smaller at one point, with one analysis estimating approximately 300 feet of vertical separation and less than one nautical mile horizontally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because those figures come from third-party tracking rather than an official FAA investigation, the exact minimum separation may still be revised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is clear is that air traffic control had to act rapidly to prevent the flight paths from continuing to converge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once separation had been restored, both aircraft were cleared to continue climbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n