A harrowing video shows a Delta jetliner narrowly missing crashing into a plane carrying the Gonzaga Men’s basketball team.
The video, which went viral on X, shows the Delta plane flying right over the private plane carrying the basketball team as it took off.
KREM-TV called the incident a “near-miss” and reported that it occurred on Friday, December 27 at 4:30 p.m.
According to KREM-TV, the Federal Aviation Administration says the Key Lime Flight 563 with the Gonzaga team was “taxiing in after landing at LAX,” the airport in Los Angeles, California.
An Air Traffic Controller Yelled, ‘Stop, Stop, Stop!’ Reports Say
According to KREM-TV, air traffic controllers “told the pilot to hold short of crossing the runway as the Delta plane was about to take off.”
But the plane didn’t stop. Fox News reported that the Delta plane involved was Delta Flight 471. No one was injured. The Delta plane was headed to Atlanta, Georgia, according to Fox News.
At one point, an air traffic controller yelled, “Stop, stop, stop!” according to the KREM television station.
“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 confirmed to NBC 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 spokesperson added to the Los Angeles television station.
Gonzaga Team Members Were ‘Unaware of the Situation’ When It Occurred, Reports Say
GettyTyler Bilodeau #34 and Eric Dailey Jr. #3 of the UCLA Bruins and Michael Ajayi #1 and Graham Ike #13 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs battle for a rebound at Intuit Dome on December 28, 2024 in Inglewood, California.
Gonzaga told KREM in a statement:
We understand that the incident at LAX is under investigation and we will review this information as it becomes available. Our team members aboard the aircraft were unaware of the situation as it occurred and we are grateful that the incident ended safely for all.
According to Fox News, a collision could have been extremely deadly as commercial aircraft often reach between “150 and 180 miles per hour before takeoff.”
The New York Post described the Delta plane as an Airbus A321.
According to the Post, the original video was uploaded to a YouTube page called Airline Video by a “plane-spotter who was filming the runway” and who could be heard saying, “Woo! Woo! Wow,” due to the near-collision.
“In the years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never heard a ATC controller tell a plane to ‘Stop, stop, stop,’” said the plane-spotter in the video.
In 1991, also at Los Angeles International Airport, two planes did collide with deadly results.
“Skywest Flight 5569, a Fairchild Metroliner SA-227-AC, was positioned on runway 24 left at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and awaiting clearance for take-off from air traffic control,” the FAA recalled on its website.
“As the aircraft waited, USAir Flight 1493, a Boeing 737-300, inbound from Columbus, Ohio, was cleared for a visual approach on runway 24 left. Just after touchdown, the 737 collided with the Metroliner that was still waiting in position. The collision occurred simultaneously with the aircraft’s nose wheel contacting the runway.”
In that instance, “All 12 passengers and crewmembers aboard the Skywest flight were killed. Twenty-two of the 89 passengers and crew on the USAir flight were killed,” according to the FAA.
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Delta Plane Narrowly Misses Gonzaga Men’s Basketball Team in Harrowing Video