Cargo jet comes too close to plane at LAX

A departing cargo jet came too close to an arriving passenger aircraft at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday night, officials said.

A pilot on the arriving Delta flight from Atlanta did not heed a controller’s instructions to stop before a safety area on a taxiway in between two runways on the airport’s south side, said Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.

After the pilot slammed on the brakes, the plane stopped within the safety area as a freighter bound for Fort Wayne, Ind., was taking off on the inner runway, he said.