An American Airlines plane almost crashed into a mountain in Hawaii shortly after takeoff.
Flight 298 departed from Honolulu at 12.30am on Wednesday, when an air traffic controller told the crew to ascend rapidly, according to audio shared by LiveATC.
‘Number 298 turn right, expedite your climb through terrain and then turn right,’ said the controller.
The pilot followed orders and the instructions likely prevented the aircraft from going into the Koʻolau mountains.
A Federal Aviation Administration official said the flight crew ‘did not make the assigned turn while departing from Honolulu International Airport’ in Oahu, NBC News reported.
American Airlines stated that crew members ‘requested and received right-turn clearance and complied with controller instructions’ and that ‘there were no issues with terrain clearance based on the trajectory of the aircraft’.
The plane safely touched down in Los Angeles seven hours after the incident, reported HawaiiNewsNow.
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