Air China Jet Flies in Wrong Direction after Takeoff

An Air China Southwest passenger jet flew in the wrong direction after taking off from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport on Sunday, just five days after a near-collision between two China Eastern Airlines planes at the Shanghai airport.

Lhasa-bound Flight CA4401, scheduled to leave the Chengdu airport at 7:15 a.m., was told by air traffic controllers to turn the jet 330 degrees to port (left) after takeoff, but the flight crew misheard the instructions and instead turned the plane in the opposite direction — 330 degrees starboard.