Close Call At Phoenix Airport, As Air Traffic Controller Saves The Day

Air traffic controllers have incredibly stressful jobs, and a vast majority of them are true professionals. Here’s the perfect example of that, as shared by VASAviation.

Southwest 737 pilot error leads to mid-air mess in Phoenix

This incident happened on February 24, 2025, near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), and involves a close call between a Southwest Boeing 737 on approach from Los Angeles (LAX), and an American Airbus A321 on approach from Dallas (DFW).

The two planes were approaching the airport around the same time, landing on parallel runways into the west. The American A321 was on a straight-in approach for the runway, while the Southwest 737 was approaching from the south, and was supposed to make a turn to the west, to land on the parallel runway.

In this situation, the air traffic controller told the Southwest pilots that “I’ll have one more turn for you in just a second,” and he advised that there’s “traffic out there one o’clock, straight in for the north side at 5,000, it’s an American A321.” The Southwest pilot confirmed that they had the other traffic in sight.

A short while later, the Southwest pilots were given the instructions that they were expecting, to turn left for final. However, suddenly there was no response. This posed a major issue, since the Southwest 737 was flying straight for the American A321 that was supposed to land on the parallel runway. Executing a parallel approach like this requires all pilots to follow turn instructions promptly, for obvious reasons.

The air traffic controller received a traffic alert, and to avoid a collision, he instructed the American A321 to turn right as soon as possible, and then to climb, to get the planes off a collision course.

After continuing to make several more calls for the Southwest pilots, there was finally a response. As it turned out, the Southwest pilot working the radios had switched the frequency too soon, and had left the approach frequency.

Obviously this caused major confusion in the flight deck. The pilots were anticipating a turn, but couldn’t hear the instructions they were being given. One wonders what they were thinking in the flight deck, since they also claimed to have visual of the other aircraft, which they were heading straight for.

Eventually the Southwest pilot returned to the frequency, and explained the mistake he had made. All planes lined up for their approaches again, and landed without incident.

This air traffic controller is a rockstar

Air traffic controllers deserve our respect, and this interaction is the perfect example of the incredible stress they’re under. Honestly, this air traffic controller is simply stellar — I highly recommend watching the above video.

This controller is on his game, rattles off instructions back-to-back without flinching, and handles the entire situation calmly yet with urgency.

A lot of people may think they have stressful jobs, but air traffic controllers deal with this kind of stuff all day, and it’s amazing the amount of pressure they’re constantly under. I hope this guy gets a pat on the back, because he’s a true professional you want in this role. I’m sure both pilots and passengers agree.

Unlike some other notable air traffic control videos we see, there’s no yelling, or ego, or reprimanding on frequency. There’s just taking care of business, and keeping the skies safe.

Obviously this was a pilot screw up. I think just about every pilot has made the mistake where they accidentally switched frequencies incorrectly. Admittedly in this case, the Southwest pilot working the radios couldn’t have picked a worse time for something like this to happen, given that they were on approach, flying straight for another aircraft.

But hey, all’s well that ends well, I suppose…

Bottom line

A Southwest Boeing 737 and American Airbus A321 had a close call at Phoenix Airport. The planes were supposed to land on parallel runways. Unfortunately the pilots of the Southwest 737 switched frequencies prematurely, and as a result, they didn’t hear the instructions to make a turn.

The good thing is that the air traffic controller was on top of his game, and the American pilots quickly followed his instructions, preventing a potentially dangerous situation.

What do you make of this Phoenix Airport approach incident?