Cessna VIOLATES LAX AIRSPACE and NEARLY COLLIDES an Airbus!

Thanks to the pilot onboard Volaris for sharing his experience so that we could understand what happened and learn from it. WATCH OUT THE BRAVO!

I’m the Captain of the Airbus in the audio and I hope that the Cessna Pilot did not encounter any problems later and before people, especially not related to aviation start getting into wrong conclusion they understand that “whoever washes plates, breaks plates…” and all pilots are exposed to that. I’m sure that he did not do it on purpose, WE Pilots learn from each experience and this will not be the first nor the last and no matter the size of the plane, we all have the same responsibility.

Well thanks everybody for your comments....I just retired from flying in June 2019 !!!!! Best regards!!!!!!!

4:20 you know you are not doing alright when ATC tells you "do you have an instructor onboard"

There are too damn many airports jammed into that airspace.

While this was ultimately the fault of the Cessna pilot, let's examine the factors that put him there. At 2:56 he says that he was headed to Compton and was diverted to Hawthorne. Unless he is very familiar with the area, this would have required him to find the chart and figure out a course to Hawthorne, as well as possibly change frequencies. At 1:20 while initially talking to Hawthorne he stated that "Sorry, radio must have broken", indicating that he was trying to contact Hawthorne tower prior. Once Hawthorne determines that he is indeed inside the class B, the instruction is not to turn around or a vector out, but to change frequencies and contact SoCal. This requires the pilot to look down and change frequencies, then wait for clear air, all of which takes a minute and 10 seconds. In summary, we have a probably new pilot who was flying to one airport, was diverted to another, and wandered into controlled airspace while trying to comply with the instructions he was given. Once it was realized that he was in the wrong place, he was given further instructions which did not resolve the problem, but rather took him out of communication with either controller. What the pilot probably should have done is when confronted with an unplanned change to Hawthorne, asked the controller for assistance in making that change, including a vector or other assistance.

The comments are all very polarized. There’s the ones who never make any mistakes, or when they do they magically only do it when no one else can be affected, they want him summarily executed by the FAA at once, one guy claiming to have reported it to the FAA, another who thinks no one in small planes should even be allowed to fly because he has 230 passengers on his plane. Then, on the very refreshing side of YouTube, there are a lot of pilots, including The other pilot involved, who understand the situation and location and that he made a mistake in a stressful situation, admitted it and will learn from it to become a better pilot and wish no harm come out of it. Some even shared their own personal stories of them making similar mistakes. I have huge respect for them and would much rather be a passenger with them than some hothead know it all who claims to never make mistakes and thinks they own the sky, I just assume they wouldn’t handle a stressful situation well.

For the commenters to consider: The LAX airspace is some of the most complicated and congested airspace on Earth, with a class Bravo, FOUR class Charlies, and boatloads of busy Deltas all on the LAX terminal area chart. Your average flying school Cessna does not have the pretty glass panels newer aircraft have and I assure you, the airspace borders are not painted on the ground for you to look at while flying (although LAX surface area comes close - it is more or less the 105 Freeway). In a trainer, overflying your intended, unfamiliar airport is much easier than you would think. I've done it. Throw in night-time flying (at least 90 minutes after sunset) and the chances of disorientation goes up. Most of my non-tower work as a student was done at Compton, and I have done a lot of pattern work at Hawthorne. I am not sure if they still do this, but we used to come up from Long Beach along the 110 Freeway at 2000' so we were sure to see the jet traffic inbound for LAX. Perhaps the choice to divert from KCPM to KHHR was not the best bet given the airspace: There are lots of options including Long Beach, Fullerton, and Torrance with towers, helpful controllers, and without the same proximity to LAX traffic.

I know it’s frustrating as a controller, but when they started using an aggressive tone you can tell the pilot is starting to shut down and that’s dangerous you are killing his confidence. The goal should always be to remain calm, keep the pilot going strong, then find out what happened after they land. Being emotionally safe is so important

This is why all aircraft should be equipped with horns. Just honk your horn and give a courtesy wave to say sorry. Works great for cars. Just saying.

The takeaway: Do not land your aircraft in LA unless your life is in immediate danger and landing your aircraft in LA is the only option to save your life. lmao

Damn, that was straight inta Compton!

Flying through LAX air space that you are not familiar with is like trying to play a round of golf in the middle of a minefield at night ears open and head on a swivel equals Staying Alive

Very serious BUT it was a student, and he owned up to his mistake. Great reaction time and response by the Costa Rican crew.

tcas saves lives people. Nice job!

Feel sorry for this guy.. He was diverted and got confused.

I learned to fly in SoCal at HHR. The turn from base to final for HHR comes very close to the LAX surface area and approach corridor. All it takes is a moment's distraction to get disoriented on the very short hop between Compton and Hawthorne and bust into the final approach path for the LAX South Complex. Visually, it's very difficult to pick out the runway at Hawthorne if you're unfamiliar. Thankfully the Volantis crew was on top of their situational awareness and the TCAS saved them in a case where ATC just couldn't respond fast enough to the maneuvering of the Cessna. When flying this close to the Bravo, I always recommend using flight following, especially if you're unfamiliar with this very complex airspace.

The LAX Corridor is a little bit intimidating. 😨

"Do you have an instructor onboard sir?" Lol auch! haha

That's the one bravo airspace you don't screw with.