Harrowing footage captured a near-disaster at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) when a Delta flight nearly collided with a plane carrying the Gonzaga University men’s basketball team.
“Stop, stop, stop!” an air traffic controller urgently shouted as the Gonzaga team’s plane prepared to cross a runway at around 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
The incident, caught on video and posted online, showed the dramatic moment unfold.
The Gonzaga-chartered Embraer ERJ-135, identified as Key Lime Air Flight 563, came to an abrupt halt just in time as Delta Flight 471, an Airbus A321, barreled down the runway and lifted off at full speed.
“Woo! Woo! Wow,” exclaimed a plane spotter filming the runway, whose video was later uploaded to the YouTube channel Airline Videos.
Reflecting on the incident, the spotter added, “In the years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never heard an ATC controller tell a plane to ‘Stop, stop, stop.'”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has since launched an investigation into the incident.
“Air traffic controllers directed Key Lime Air Flight 563 to hold short of crossing a runway at Los Angeles International Airport because a second aircraft was taking off from the runway at the time,” an FAA spokesperson told NBC 4 Los Angeles.
“When the Embraer E135 jet proceeded to cross the hold bars, air traffic controllers told the pilots to stop. The jet never crossed the runway edge line.”
The Gonzaga team had just landed from Washington ahead of their game against UCLA.
The university told the Los Angeles Times it “expects to receive more information related to this event, and is grateful that the incident ended safely for all.”
Meanwhile, Delta’s Atlanta-bound Flight 471 was unaffected by the close call, the airline confirmed.
The alarming near-miss occurred during a busy holiday travel period, with an estimated 3.2 million passengers passing through LAX between December 19 and the new year.
The close call also comes amid a deadly week for aviation incidents worldwide, underscoring ongoing challenges in ensuring air travel safety.
