A was averted Friday when a Phoenix air traffic controller recognized two American Airlines jets mistakenly were flying the same flight number and acted quickly to avoid confusion and keep them a safe distance apart.
Audio of the incident shortly after midnight Friday shows how he found a solution to ensure the planes that were both called American 2482 as one plane arrived from Chicago shortly after the other had taken off in Phoenix.
鈥淚鈥檝e been working air traffic for 25 years. I鈥檝e never seen two aircraft pretty much merge with the same call sign. That鈥檚 pretty incredible,鈥� the controller said after the departing plane had safely cleared the area.
If both pilots thought the controller was telling them to fly at the same altitude as they headed toward each other, they might have collided, so it was crucial they knew which plane he was directing.
Quick thinking ensured the controller鈥檚 instructions were clear
The audio posted by ATC.com shows how the controller quickly started referring to 鈥淎merican 2482 on the arrival鈥� and 鈥淎merican 2482 on the departure鈥� to keep the two planes straight.
The controller kept the arriving plane safely above the departing plane even as their flight paths converged and made sure that the pilots of both airlines saw each other when they were still miles apart. He also directed the departing plane not to climb too high, so a gap would remain between the planes.
The arriving pilot complimented the controller for his 鈥渘ice work鈥� once the two planes had passed each other safely.
鈥淚t could have been disastrous, but I鈥檓 glad it worked out,鈥� the controller replied.
Expert says airline must have missed that the flights would overlap
Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said it鈥檚 likely that someone inside the airline鈥檚 dispatch center failed to catch that both planes would be in the air at the same time with identical flight numbers when both the dispatcher and the pilots signed off on the flight plan.
鈥淵ou can drop the ball and that shouldn鈥檛 happen, but it鈥檚 nice to see that the system is resilient and we have all the safeguards,鈥� said Arroyo, who has only seen this type of issue a couple times in his four decades with United Airlines. Arroyo started his career as a dispatcher before becoming a pilot.
Flight 2482 is a round-trip route that often flies back and forth between Chicago and Phoenix. Typically the same plane goes back and forth, but the flight out of Chicago was delayed by weather, so American found a second plane in Phoenix and that flight left on time. The result was that both planes briefly shared the same airspace before the arriving flight landed.
The government and airline will determine how this occurred
The and American Airlines will investigate how this happened, and they both emphasized how glad they were that everyone remained safe.
鈥淭he diligence鈥刟nd professionalism鈥刼f air鈥則raffic controllers鈥刟nd our鈥刾ilots鈥別nsured鈥剅equired separation was always maintained鈥刟nd the鈥刬ssue鈥剋as鈥刬dentified and鈥刟ddressed. Both flights鈥刢ontinued safely and鈥剋ithout incident,鈥� American Airlines said in a statement.
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