2 American Airlines planes averted potential disaster in Phoenix

Phoenix controller averts plane disaster

A Phoenix air traffic controller intervened after two American Airlines planes were assigned the same flight number in the same airspace. FOX 10’s Nicole Krasean has the latest.

PHOENIX – The Associated Press is reporting that a Phoenix air traffic controller’s quick action helped two airliners avert disaster on Aug. 14.

What we know:

According to the AP’s report, two American Airlines planes had the same flight number: 2482. The two planes were flying close together, with one headed to Sky Harbor, and the other departing from Sky Harbor just after midnight on Aug. 14.

Flightradar24 states the two planes were on the same communications frequency.

The plane headed to Phoenix was descending through 11,000 feet while the plane leaving Phoenix was climbing towards 9,000 feet when air traffic control realized the planes were using the same call sign, Flightradar24 reported. When they realized that, air traffic control told both planes to maintain a safe altitude to prevent conflict, and began referring to the planes as “American 2482 on approach” and “American 2482 on departure.”

Both flights continued without further incident, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

‘Could have been disastrous’

Live air traffic control audio captured the tense moments when a controller realized the two planes were sharing the same airspace.

“One-zero thousand for American 2482 on arrival,” the controller said.

Realizing the duplicate, the controller quickly issued directions to keep the aircraft separated.

“Is that correct on the departure? Roger, on the departure. I need you to maintain 9,000,” the controller told the departing plane. “Traffic, 1 o’clock and 10 miles, is your company, same call sign, descending.”

The Associated Press reported that the flight normally uses the same aircraft for the round trip. However, severe weather delayed the incoming flight from Chicago. To keep schedules on track, American Airlines assigned a substitute plane in Phoenix to handle the outbound leg—resulting in two different planes using the exact same flight number in the same airspace at the same time.

The controller maneuvered the arriving flight to 11,000 feet while keeping the departing flight at 9,000 feet until the conflict cleared, eventually clearing the departing plane to climb to 21,000 feet.

Once both aircraft were safely routed, a controller expressed relief over the radio: “I’m glad it all worked out there. Could have been disastrous, but I’m glad it worked out.”

Dig deeper:

The AP’s report states that normally, the same plane flies both legs of the round trip, but the flight out of Chicago was delayed, which led to American Airlines using a second plane in Phoenix.

By the numbers:

American Airlines officials say there were a total of 295 passengers on both planes: 122 on the plane headed to Phoenix, and 173 on the plane headed to Chicago.

Why you should care:

If both pilots thought the controller was telling them to fly at the same altitude as they were headed towards each other, the two planes might have collided, the AP’s report said.

What they’re saying:

“The diligence and professionalism of air traffic controllers and our pilots ensured required separation was always maintained and the issue was identified and addressed. Both flights continued safely and without incident,” American Airlines said in a statement to the AP.