Two American Airlines planes suffered emergencies while using the same airport in Arizona within 15 minutes of one another, air traffic control audio reveals.
On Friday, an Airbus operated by the airline was flying from Washington, D.C., into Phoenix around 10 a.m. MT (noon ET) when the flight crew reported a flap failure. Then, at 10:12 a.m., another Airbus taking off from Phoenix, headed for Mexico, reported low oil pressure in one of its engines and requested to return to the airport.
A spokesperson for American Airlines told Newsweek the similar timing of the two incidents was “purely coincidental” and apologized to those affected by them.
After around half an hour circling over the airport, the flight from Washington, D.C., was able to land, while the one to Mexico returned around 20 minutes after take-off.
Flights declaring emergencies can be more common than people think; according to FlightRadar, at least a few do so every day. An emergency can be declared for a whole host of different reasons—from onboard medical issues to problems with the aircraft—and many do not require immediate action on the ground, but are rather to alert flight control and airport first responders to a situation.
In many cases, a flight will be diverted to a nearby airport or will return to its airport of origin. Flight control there will have to ensure that a runway is clear for an emergency landing.
According to flight control audio, after the flight crew on the first American Airlines plane declared an emergency, the pilot told flight control at Phoenix that there were 197 people onboard and the aircraft had two hours of fuel left, before requesting a longer final approach.
The plane was then put in a holding pattern over Phoenix. Around the same time, the other American Airlines flight was preparing for take-off. Approximately two minutes after departure, it reported low oil pressure in its number two engine.