In a hair-raising incident on Friday, the Gonzaga University mens basketball team's charter plane narrowly escaped a collision with an airliner at Los Angeles International Airport.
The team, en route to their Saturday game against the UCLA Bruins, was aboard Key Lime Air flight 563 when the near-miss occurred.
As reported by Mediaite, the chartered jet was attempting to taxi off the runway when it almost crossed paths with a Delta Air Lines plane that was taking off. The incident was recorded live by the aviation enthusiast account, Airline Videos. The air traffic controller's urgent instructions to the Key Lime jet were captured in the footage. "Key Lime, stop, stop, stop!" he commanded, as the jet seemed to be on a collision course with the airliner.
Once the Delta plane had successfully taken off and cleared the runway, the Key Lime jet was given the green light to cross the runway and proceed to its gate. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has since released a statement, confirming that the incident is under investigation.
"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," the FAA explained. "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."
Remarkably, the passengers on the Delta flight and the occupants of the Key Lime flight, excluding its pilots, were oblivious to the near-collision. This incident underscores the critical role of air traffic controllers in ensuring the safety of air travel, a responsibility that should not be taken lightly.
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