Two American Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft were airborne under the identical callsign "American 2482" in the same sector near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) shortly after midnight on August 14, 2026. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has initiated an investigation into the callsign duplication.
One aircraft was arriving from Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and descending through 11,000 feet, while the other had just departed Phoenix for Chicago O'Hare and was climbing toward 9,000 feet. The callsign duplication arose after weather delayed the inbound flight from Chicago, which landed at 12:13 a.m. local time compared to its scheduled arrival time of 10:43 p.m. Rather than holding the return flight, American Airlines dispatched a second Boeing 737-800 already on the ground at Phoenix. When a duplication is anticipated, standard procedure is to refile the second flight under a different number or append a letter to the callsign before pushback, but neither step was taken.
Once the conflict became apparent, the sector air traffic controller addressed the flights as "American 2482 on the arrival" and "American 2482 on the departure" to differentiate between the two aircraft. The controller restricted the departing jet to 9,000 feet while keeping the arriving aircraft at a higher altitude above it, passing traffic advisories to both flight crews until both reported having the other aircraft in sight.
The FAA confirmed that required separation was maintained between the two aircraft throughout the encounter, and neither aircraft received a collision avoidance resolution advisory. American Airlines stated that it is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the flight and credited both air traffic controllers and its own flight crews with maintaining required aircraft separation.
