Two United Airlines jets had a very close call several days ago, as a plane that had just landed accidentally entered a runway that was occupied by a plane that was taking off. Fortunately disaster was avoided, but this still ended up being quite the inconvenience.
In this post:
United Airbus A321neo & Boeing 787-9 have LAX close call
VASAviation has the scoop on a very close call that happened at around 11:50AM on Monday, March 2, 2026, at at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). What went wrong here is pretty straightforward:
- United flight UA530 was an Airbus A321neo that was landing from Chicago (ORD); it was cleared to land on runway 24R, the airport’s northernmost runway
- The pilots of UA530 were given clear instructions to hold short of runway 24L (the parallel runway), which they’d need to cross to get to their gate; the pilots confirmed that they’d hold short of the runway, so there was no miscommunication there
- At the same time, United flight UA152 was a Boeing 787-9 that was departing for Hong Kong (HKG); it was cleared for takeoff on runway 24L, and the intent was that UA530 was supposed to hold short until after the plane took off
- The A321neo didn’t actually hold short of 24L as it was supposed to, and instead, entered the runway exactly as the 787-9 was barreling in its direction
- Fortunately the air traffic controller caught what was going on, and told the A321neo to cross the runway with no delay, and the 787-9 to cancel its takeoff clearance
According to flight tracking software Flightradar24, the 787-9 reached a maximum speed of 106 knots before aborting its takeoff. The 787-9 ended up having its brakes overheat (as is common, especially when you consider how “heavy” this plane was, as it was departing on a 15-hour flight), and it ended up needing to return to the gate.
The flight ended up being delayed by around eight hours — while it was supposed to depart at 11:10AM, it ended up taking off at 7:13PM.
You can hear the air traffic control audio for yourself below.
What could’ve caused this runway incursion?
This is a very unusual incident. For one, it was less than 20 seconds from the time the pilot of UA530 confirmed they’d hold short of runway 24L, to when they crossed runway 24L without authorization. That’s a really short amount of time to lapse for a mistake like that. It’s not like they were given that instruction 10 minutes earlier, and forgot.
For that matter, the lack of situational awareness is puzzling. They were all on the same frequency, so you’d think the pilots landing on runway 24R would hear the takeoff clearance for a plane on runway 24L.
So, how we make sense of something like this, when it seems like such an obvious error, and it could have life or death implications? I think there were possibly a couple of outside factors that may have contributed to this error, which might not have otherwise happened.
For one, this was quite a chaotic time at LAX, as a United 787 was also being evacuated via slides on the south side of the airport, so that shifted a lot of operations to the northern runways.
I can’t help but wonder if the pilots had maybe briefed for a landing on the south runways, but ended up being moved to the north runways. How does that matter in the context of being given instructions to not cross a runway?
It’s interesting to note that on the south side of the airport, there’s a taxiway between the two parallel runways, while that’s not the case on the north side of the runway. So I wonder if the pilots may have thought that runway 24L was actually a taxiway, and that caused the confusion.
No matter how you slice it, none of this fully makes sense. Runways and taxiways look different, there are hold short lines and runway lights, etc. You had two pilots in the flight deck, and neither realized this mistake? It’s bad…
Lastly, kudos to the air traffic controllers for their alertness and professionalism. They caught what was happening, and couldn’t have handled the situation better. Their focus was on getting everyone to their destination safety, rather than on ego, temper, etc., as you might find at New York Kennedy (JFK).
Bottom line
March 2 wasn’t a great day for United Airlines at LAX. While one 787 was being evacuated, another 787 had to abort its takeoff due to a United A321neo trying to cross the runway at the same time. There’s no good justification for this, in the sense that the pilot had just read back instructions to hold short of the parallel runway. Well done to the air traffic controllers for averting a catastrophe.
What do you make of this LAX runway incursion?
Ya think March 2 wasn’t ‘good’ for United? Ask Emirates and Qatar how they felt about March 2…
Bless the atc. Stuff happens, mistakes are made, but at the end of day. We rely on you.
The new High Speed Exit Taxiways off of 24R have had A LOT of runway incursions since they opened last year. There are multiple NOTAMS, company ops alerts, and it’s even noted in the ATIS. Basically everyone is running into this problem
so someone can't follow directions, you are telling me?
interesting, are these new exits shorter than the old exits or is it uncommon to have a high speed exit that directly leads to a parallel runway?
high speed taxiways often do connect to a taxiway but that is not the case for the north runway complex at LAX.
again, it is ALL on the airport diagram for pilots and the high speed exit taxiways (V, W, and Y) are all designated in orange while the entire rest of the chart is in black with hold short indicators.
Someone not only did not read the airport diagram before landing or follow ATC directions.
I get that this was on the pilot and the charts showed that the exit lead directly to the parallel, not excusing that mistake but given the post said there's been a lot of these issues was just trying to understand if the design was also a contributing factor (ie the exit is too short to stop in time). Seems to me that if this was not a one-off mistake by the UA pilot but...
I get that this was on the pilot and the charts showed that the exit lead directly to the parallel, not excusing that mistake but given the post said there's been a lot of these issues was just trying to understand if the design was also a contributing factor (ie the exit is too short to stop in time). Seems to me that if this was not a one-off mistake by the UA pilot but rather has happened "A LOT" there might be a more systemic issue beyond just someone not properly reading a chart.
IIRC, LAX wanted to move the northernmost runway further north but the communities around the airport refused.
LAWA, operator of the airport, agreed not to move it. High speed taxiways are necessary at busy airports because they increase runway capacity.
There are plenty of airports that have sub-optimal configurations which is why it is all documented.
It's not LAX is some backwater airport or UA is an airline that has minimal operations on the...
IIRC, LAX wanted to move the northernmost runway further north but the communities around the airport refused.
LAWA, operator of the airport, agreed not to move it. High speed taxiways are necessary at busy airports because they increase runway capacity.
There are plenty of airports that have sub-optimal configurations which is why it is all documented.
It's not LAX is some backwater airport or UA is an airline that has minimal operations on the west coast.
and, if everything was operating normally, DL and WN and airlines that predominantly have operations on the north side of the terminal complex use the north runways
But because UA had a 787 evacuating on one of the south runways, they had to use the north runways.
You don't get a pass as a pilot because you have to use runways or an airport that you are less familiar with.
He was busy jerking off to pictures of Delta aircraft.
as soon as is cleared to a different runway than they are expecting or had previously been cleared to, they should open the airport chart. There are high speed exits but they aren't long.
Also, it is possible that the pilot making the radio calls was not the pilot who landed the plane or taxied it.
It shouldn't happen but it does.
and doing 100 knots in any jet before a rejected takeoff...
as soon as is cleared to a different runway than they are expecting or had previously been cleared to, they should open the airport chart. There are high speed exits but they aren't long.
Also, it is possible that the pilot making the radio calls was not the pilot who landed the plane or taxied it.
It shouldn't happen but it does.
and doing 100 knots in any jet before a rejected takeoff usually requires checks before it flies again and the pilots may have chosen not to continue the trip which could explain the delay in getting the flight out.
yes, the difference in attitude between LAX and JFK controllers is notable.
Those breaks must’ve been white-hot. *sizzle*
I'm sure you have had a few by this point in the evening but I think the word you are looking for is "brakes"
cheers!
What was a cause ?
Speeding most likely .
Same as on the roads , when auto drivers assume others will get out of their way .
Another cause includes too many aircraft coming and going . Solution might be fewer and smaller aircraft , with less passengers , and less stressed ATCs and pilots .
For $100 ...Syncopated Waltz....... Who is the useless fool that comments this way .. Alert