American Airlines had two flights using the same AA2482 callsign in the Phoenix area late on 13 August, creating a serious air traffic control confusion that triggered an FAA investigation. One Boeing 737-800 was arriving from Chicago while another departed Phoenix for Chicago, and controllers had to distinguish them on frequency to keep the aircraft safely separated.
The overlap developed after the Chicago-to-Phoenix service ran late, placing both flights in the same airspace at the same time. The outbound Phoenix-to-Chicago leg took off shortly before midnight, while the inbound flight touched down shortly after. Recorded controller audio identified the aircraft as the “arrival” and the “departure” to avoid further confusion.
The incident did not become a loss of separation or collision, with controllers maintaining the required spacing between the two jets. Even so, the situation was described as potentially disastrous, underlining the operational risk when an airline uses the same spoken flight number for opposite-direction services on the same frequency. The FAA has opened a review, but no final finding or enforcement action has been disclosed.