Two American Airlines Jets With Same Flight Number Nearly Collide Over Phoenix

Phoenix: Two American Airlines jets carrying the same flight number, 2482, found themselves on converging paths over Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in the early hours of August 14, after a scheduling mix-up placed both aircraft in the same airspace under an identical call sign.

One aircraft, inbound from Chicago and delayed by severe weather, was descending through 11,000 feet, while a second plane, assigned to operate the outbound leg of the same route number, was climbing through 9,000 feet outbound from Phoenix. Flight 2482 normally uses a single aircraft for the round trip, but American assigned a replacement plane for the outbound departure rather than delay it further.

An air traffic controller with 25 years of experience caught the duplicate call sign before it caused confusion, and began referring to the two aircraft separately as 'American 2482 on the arrival' and 'American 2482 on the departure', instructing each to maintain a specific altitude. Both flight crews confirmed they had the other aircraft in sight before their paths crossed.

Both flights continued and landed or departed safely, with no injuries reported. American Airlines said it is reviewing the incident, which has drawn attention to gaps between airline dispatch systems and air traffic control communications.