Wrong Turn Sends 777 Toward Mountains

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

An EVA Air Boeing 777 departed Los Angeles, made a wrong turn into mountainous terrain due to an initial erroneous instruction from air traffic control.
The aircraft flew dangerously close, within 500 feet, of Mount Wilson before the crew responded to repeated controller warnings and corrected its course.
The FAA is investigating the incident, focusing on both the controller's instruction and the flight crew's delayed response.

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A Boeing 777 turned the wrong way after departing from Los Angeles in a rainstorm on Friday morning, shortly after 1 a.m., and flew into an area of mountainous terrain before correcting course and safely reaching its destination in Taiwan. The incident, which was first reported Monday by local media, began when a controller told the flight crew to turn left instead of right after takeoff. The controller quickly corrected the instruction, and called repeatedly to the flight crew for more than a minute before getting a response. “EVA 015 Heavy, what are you doing? Turn southbound now, southbound now,” the controller says after the plane apparently does not heed her initial instruction.

The EVA Air 777 flew as close as 500 feet above Mount Wilson, according to ABC News. The wrong turn also brought the 777 close to an Air Canada jet flying behind it. The entire exchange can be heard on audio from LiveATC.net. The FAA is investigating the incident.