United A320 & SkyWest CRJ: An SFO Takeoff Tango
Picture this: It’s a typical afternoon at San Francisco International Airport, sky as blue as a politician’s promises. But May 13, 2025, had a little extra drama for your usual air traffic tales. Word on the tarmac is that a controller let slip this incident was the sort that gives nightmares even to the steely-eyed guardians of the skies, who’ve clocked over a decade in the tower. So, you know it’s serious.
Our story’s main players? A United Airbus A320 and a SkyWest CRJ-200, both set for parallel takeoffs on ideal runways 1L and 1R:
- The United bird, known to pals by registration N4901U, was en route to Dallas (DFW)
- SkyWest’s contender, registration N246PS, had its GPS locked on Fresno (FAT)
The jets had their flight plans all set up with SIDs (standard departures, not the local mechanic) in place:
- United was supposed to clear the skies via runway 1R, taking the TRUKN SID with a cheery right turn
- SkyWest, meanwhile, was channeling its inner Nascar, turning left from runway 1L, following the SSTIK SID
Easy, right? Airplanes should have parted like a well-worded debate. But, oh, the skies had other plans. Someone must’ve flipped the script at the last second because the United jet must’ve heard “left” when it was meant to lean right, crossing paths with the SkyWest CRJ at close range. How close? Only a hair-raising 0.4 nautical miles horizontally and 280 social-distancing feet vertically. Who needs thrill rides when you have that?
Fortunately, the SkyWest folks had their wits about them—unlike some staff meetings I’ve been in—and dodged what could have been airborne gridlock. For a vivid play-by-play, check out the link Val Seny ski resort.
Handling the United Detour Dilemma
By now, you’re wondering why the United jet took a creative spin on the airport’s instructions. The controllers gave the United pilots a dusty phone number to hash this out. What’s better than a tense call with the boss after just narrowly avoiding a disaster?
- This was the first officer’s inaugural visit to spectacular San Francisco skies, and he was piloting
- Apparently, once airborne, the flight management system threw a curveball, indicating a left turn
- The captain, bless his heart, tried to correct it, knowing they weren’t plowing through rugby, and put in a new heading
- Too late, the planes were already greeting each other like long-lost relatives
Seems like a classic case of FMS thinking one runway length, while the pilots had another in mind. The result? Well, airplanes don’t wing it as well as we do at our local talent shows.
Flying in a Perfectly Sorted Mess
Dodgy flight path aside, there’s more to this tale worthy of a reality TV show. The air traffic control may have had a bit of a brain-freeze twice over while this was happening, telling the United pilots to “fly runway heading”. Perhaps the stress of the job or just Tuesday afternoon blues?
Speaking of communication breakdowns, you’d think they’d mention the other plane sharing the friendly skies. No calls of “don’t forget about the other plane next door” were made, so no wonder the United pilots felt the runway was their lonely dance floor.
And that forlorn Turkish Airlines pilot! How long did it take for any acknowledgment? Was he there tapping his watch and sipping an espresso before finally hitting the tarmac, or what?
Bottom Line
So, there you have it. A United A320 and a SkyWest CRJ-200 narrowly avoided a rather intimate mid-air rendezvous over SFO. A computing hiccup seems to have sent the United jet veering left when it should have gone right. And if that wasn’t enough, the air traffic controller also played telephone, giving out mixed signals.
This debacle paints a picture of avoidable chaos, even in the high-stakes world of air travel. Just like the saying, “too many cooks spoil the broth,” perhaps here it was “too many mixed signals fluster the flyer.”
Your thoughts on this airborne near-miss?