(VIDEO) Delta Flight Avoids Collision with Gonzaga Team Plane on Runway

Delta Airbus A321 narrowly avoids collision with Gonzaga team’s charter plane at LAX.
Air traffic controller’s urgent command prevents runway disaster.
FAA launches investigation into the alarming near-miss incident.

Chilling footage captured a near-miss at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) as a Delta flight narrowly avoided a collision with a plane carrying the Gonzaga University men’s basketball team.

“Stop, stop, stop!” an air traffic controller urgently shouted on Friday around 4:30 p.m., as the Gonzaga-chartered Embraer ERJ-135 prepared to cross an active runway.

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Eko Hot Blog reports that the tense moment, captured on video and shared online, shows the chartered Key Lime Air Flight 563 abruptly halting just as Delta Flight 471, an Airbus A321, thundered down the runway and took off at full speed.

“Woo! Woo! Wow,” exclaimed a plane spotter recording the scene. The dramatic footage was later uploaded to the YouTube channel Airline Videos. Reflecting on the incident, the spotter remarked, “In all my years of plane spotting, I’ve never heard an air traffic controller yell ‘Stop, stop, stop.’”

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed it is investigating the alarming incident to determine how the close call occurred.

“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 arrived in Los Angeles from Washington ahead of their scheduled game against UCLA.

In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, the university expressed relief, saying it “expects to receive more information related to this event and is grateful that the incident ended safely for all involved.”