A charter plane carrying the Gonzaga men’s basketball team almost collided with another airplane around 4:30 p.m. PT Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, in an incident the Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating.
The team was flying into LAX for their Saturday game against UCLA, which the Bulldogs lost 62-65. After the plane landed, air traffic controllers called for the plane to halt before it nearly crossed paths with another plane taking off on an intersecting runway.
The FAA said air traffic controllers directed the flight with the Gonzaga basketball team aboard, which was operated by Key Lime Air, to hold short of crossing the runway as the other plane, a Delta flight, was taking off. When the plane carrying Gonzaga’s team proceeded to “cross the hold bars,” air traffic controllers told the pilots to stop and the jet never crossed the runway edge line, according to the FAA.
NBC obtained footage of the incident in which an air traffic controller can be heard repeatedly saying, “Stop.”
“We understand that the incident at LAX is under investigation and we will review this information as it becomes available,” Gonzaga told the Associated Press. “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.”
The Athletic has reached out to Key Lime Air for comment.
A 2023 investigation from The New York Times found that near misses between airplanes on runways are occurring more frequently than previously believed. The Times analysis of FAA records found that by August of that year, close calls were happening, on average, multiple times per week, often due to human error. The Times also said it analyzed a NASA database that contained aviation safety reports, which showed that the documented near collisions more than doubled over the previous decade, but it was unclear whether it was due to worse safety conditions or more reporting.
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(Photo: Kirby Lee / USA Today)
