Lindsay Lohan -- Cutting It Real Close

Lindsay Lohan's court hearing is less than three hours away and she still has not arrived in Los Angeles ... TMZ has learned.

As TMZ first reported, LiLo hopped off her scheduled flight from New York to Los Angeles just before take off last night because she felt the plane was unsafe.

Lindsay eventually found a flight, tweeting at around 4:00 AM PT and thanking Mr. Pink -- an energy drink company -- for lending her a private jet.

According to our sources, the flight won't land in Los Angeles until around 6:30-7:00 AM PT ... meaning Lindsay has roughly 1.5 hours to make it to court, which starts at 8:30 AM PT. It might be enough time, but you have to factor in that Lindsay needs to make herself "camera ready."

And then there's this ... we know Lindsay's plane is set to land at the airport in Van Nuys. That means she has to travel around 20 miles to get to the hearing today at the Airport Courthouse. And it's gonna be rush hour!

According to our sources, Lindsay is not alone on the flight. She's traveling with her ex-assistant Gavin. He was the one who rolled on Lindsay and told the cops she was driving the car (despite her claims otherwise). The incident played a major role in their decision to charge her with lying to police.

Lindsay could have avoided all of this if she stayed on her original flight to LA. Even though it took off an hour late and was diverted to Las Vegas ... it still arrived in Los Angeles last night at 11:30 PM.