FAA: Wrong turn was taken near LAX

Art MarroquinDaily Breeze (Torrance, California) The pilot of a small commuter plane made a wrong turn as he took off from Hawthorne Municipal Airport last month and crossed into the path of two jetliners landing at Los Angeles International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration reported Tuesday. The error was caused by an air traffic controller who failed to catch the pilot's incorrect read-back of instructions when taking off from Hawthorne around 9:15 a.m. June 13, according to FAA spokesman Mike Fergus. "It's a serious mistake, but it wasn't a life-threatening situation because there was plenty of separation between all the planes involved," Fergus said. The controller had directed the pilot of a Piaggio P-180 Avanti to turn left during takeoff from Hawthorne. Instead, the pilot turned right after incorrectly... [read full story]