'It was real close': Frontier Airlines jet nearly collides with trucks while taxiing at LAX

Nathaniel Percy, The Orange County Register on Apr 10, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — A Frontier passenger jet had a close call this week when it was cut off by a pair of trucks while taxiing at Los Angeles International Airport, but avoided contact when an alert pilot slammed on the brakes.

The near-miss, involving a Frontier Airlines flight bound for Atlanta, occurred about 11:25 p.m. on Wednesday. The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating.

“Hey ground, did you just see this?” the pilot can be heard asking on air traffic control audio.

“No,” the air traffic controller responds.

“We just had two trucks just cut us off, we had to slam on the brakes not to hit them,” the pilot says.

The FAA on Friday said that vehicles on the tarmac at airports are required to yield to aircraft.

In a statement, Frontier said it was aware of the incident and confirmed no one was hurt. There were 217 passengers and seven crew members on board.

“We thank our crew for their vigilance and professionalism,” the statement read.

“It happened so fast, both of us were just like holy (expletive), and then we just slammed on the brakes,” one of the pilots was heard saying on air traffic control audio. “I might have to call the flight attendants to make sure everybody’s all right in the back. It was real close. The closest I’ve ever seen.”

The pilot later confirmed everyone was OK, but reiterated that it was the closest he’d ever seen any vehicles get to the aircraft.

The near collision comes just weeks after an Air Canada aircraft slammed into a fire truck on the runway shortly after landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing the pilot and co-pilot.

In this case, the jet, an Airbus A321, was taxiing toward the runway and going much slower, likely giving the pilots time to react and hit the brakes.

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