2 American Airlines Boeing 737s With The Same Callsign Flew Straight At Each Other

Published Aug 14, 2026, 2:25 PM EDT Journalist – Aaron is an aviation and travel journalist with 14 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry. His background spans airport operations, aviation infrastructure, and travel consulting, having worked with global organizations across New Zealand, Europe, and North America. Combining industry expertise with firsthand travel experience across more than 52 countries and five continents, Aaron covers airlines, airports, aviation policy, and the wider travel sector. He is based in Canterbury, New Zealand. His work has been published in Simple Flying and featured by MSN, SAM CHUI Aviation & Travel, EIN News, Pakistan Defence, and Climate Depot. American Airlines recently had two flights with the same callsign, which resulted in them both being on the same air traffic control frequency and flying towards each other. This occurred in the skies above Phoenix and raises questions about how this could happen. For AA2482, this is a service that is flown in both directions between Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) and Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD). Using a flight number for both directions is not uncommon, and yesterday the service to Phoenix was delayed, seeing the same flight with the same flight number departing before the inbound aircraft had arrived, and saw the two Boeing 737-800 on a trajectory for each other. Two Flights With The Same Callsign Credit: Shutterstock As reported by One Mile At A Time, on Thursday evening, American Airlines was operating its nonstop flights from Chicago to Phoenix and return. The outbound flight from Chicago landed at 12:13 AM, which was over an hour delayed from its scheduled arrival time of 10:43 PM. At the same time, AA2482 to Chicago departed from Phoenix at 11:58, a few minutes behind its scheduled departure time of 11:45 PM. Both of these flights ended up on the same air traffic control frequency near Phoenix, and due to the flights operating at the same time, with the same callsign, evidently this became confusing for air traffic control audio. Recordings from the air traffic controller noted that the 25-year-old ATC veteran had never seen two aircraft operating in the same airspace with the same callsign. To ensure the safety of passengers and crew, the controller made sure that both flights were aware of the other aircraft operating on the same callsign, and differentiated the two by calling American 2482 on the arrival, vs American 2482 on the departure. This required additional attention for the pilots, and fortunately avoided any close calls. Both Flights Kept Clear Of Each Other Credit: Shutterstock While it is not uncommon to see two flights with the same callsign, it would usually be unfamiliar for both these flights to be in the air at the same time, in the same airspace. This situation was caused by the delayed arrival of the Phoenix-bound flight, and then the on-time departure of the Chicago-bound flight. The air traffic controller was quick to act on this duplication and made sure that the captains of both flights were aware of the situation and used tools to ensure he could differentiate the two planes. As suggested by OMAAT, it would be worth asking the American operations centre why they did not consider a last-minute change to the flight number, or a differentiation with an additional letter to the call sign to make it explicitly clear between the two flights in question. The swift action the controller took likely avoided a midair catastrophe above the skies of Phoenix, and both flights were able to steer clear of each other after briefly flying both towards each other. The aircraft were able to arrive at their final destination safely, with no harm to passengers or crew. Aircraft Details: N946NN And N925AN Credit: Shutterstock Using flight data, the two aircraft in question for this close call were N925AN (Phoenix to Chicago) and N946NN (Chicago to Phoenix). Both aircraft regularly fly to and from Phoenix and support the oneworld carriers' short-haul international or domestic operations. Further aircraft characteristics are noted in the table below, as per ch-aviation: Aircraft Registration N925AN N946NN Flight Direction Phoenix to Chicago Chicago to Phoenix Serial Number 29526 33234 Hex Code ACD0CA AD24AB Plane Age 26.7 years 12.6 years Delivery Date December 17, 1999 February 4, 2014 Type Boeing 737-800 Boeing 737-800 Ultimately, for this incident near Phoenix, the two aircraft that were operating under the same callsign on the same frequency highlight how important it is for clear communication and effective operational safeguards. The controller was able to spot the issue quickly and handle the situation professionally.