Los Angeles: A plane full of passengers was sent towards a mountain range and into the flight path of another jet in driving rain by an air traffic controller.
An EVA Air Boeing 777 that left LAX in heavy rain around 1:20 a.m. on Friday heading to Taiwan was given an incorrect instruction by a controller based in San Diego to turn left instead of right, KABC-TV reported.
That sent the airliner toward mountains above Altadena, as well as toward the path of an Air Canada plane that had just taken off.
Audio traffic indicates that the same controller realised the error and told the airliner to level out and change direction.
The controller told the pilot several times to head south. More than a minute later, she was still trying to get him to comply, according to KABC.
The EVA crew eventually pulled up and got onto the right flight path.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.
He said the two planes remained the required distance from each other at all times during the incident. Regulations require aircraft to be at least 3 miles away laterally or 2,000 feet vertically above obstacles such as mountains.
