Overview
- FAA officials confirmed Monday they opened an investigation into the Dec. 18 incident at George Bush Intercontinental Airport around 3:05 p.m.
- Volaris El Salvador flight 4321 departing runway 33L was cleared to turn left to heading 110, while United Express/CommuteAir flight 4814 off 33R was assigned a right turn to 340.
- The Volaris crew instead began a right turn toward the ERJ‑145’s path as both aircraft received TCAS resolution advisories and executed evasive maneuvers.
- Both flights continued to their destinations and landed on time, according to FlightAware data cited by local media.
- CommuteAir says its crew followed ATC instructions as replays cited by aviation outlets highlight controller workload, non-standard phraseology, and counterintuitive long-way-around vectors as areas under scrutiny.