A concerning incident at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) occurred last Friday when two planes nearly collided on the runway. One of the planes, a charter carrying the Gonzaga University men's basketball team, had just touched down and was taxiing, while a Delta Air Lines jet was preparing to take off. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the incident took place at around 4:30 p.m. and is now under investigation. As reported by ABC7, air traffic controllers gave explicit instructions to the Key Lime Air flight to halt before crossing a runway, narrowly preventing a dangerous situation.
As captured on a broadcast by Airline Videos Live, the charter plane, operated by Key Lime Air, rolled beyond the designated hold point despite being directed to stop. This prompted an urgent response from air traffic control, with one controller repeatedly shouting "stop" over the radio to the pilots of the Embraer E135 aircraft. The FAA stated that the charter plane subsequently complied and did not cross the runway edge line, while the Delta plane was able to depart safely. The clip from the incident was later posted online and has garnered attention from the public and media. The Gonzaga basketball team was reportedly unaware of the near miss until after it occurred, according to a statement from the school obtained by Patch.
The Gonzaga team, after landing for a game against UCLA, experienced a close call that is too unsettling for comfort in the aviation world. Their following match in Los Angeles County at Pepperdine University was set for Monday at 7 p.m., as per CBS News Los Angeles.
