The Gonzaga men’s basketball team’s charter plane was almost demolished by a Delta flight taking off at LAX on Friday, leading to an FAA investigation.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation into what was nearly a catastrophe as a Delta flight almost crashed into the Gonzaga men’s basketball charter plane at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Friday.
Footage of the moment showed that Delta Flight 471 was about to take off when an air-traffic controller was heard screaming, “Stop, stop, stop!” at the charter plane carrying the men’s basketball team across the runway.
Luckily, the warning worked as the Atlanta-bound flight took off without crashing into the Gonzaga charter.
At the time of the incident, the team had recently landed at LAX on a flight operated by Key Lime Air, a Colorado-based airline that provides charter services.
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A plane spotter, Kevin Ray, also uploaded footage of the incident on YouTube, and they could be heard saying, “Wow!” as it was extremely close to being a very serious situation.
Most commercial planes reach between 150 and 180 miles per hour before takeoff, depending on the weight of the aircraft. So, the impact of the charter plane could have been lethal.
“In the years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never heard a ATC controller tell a plane to ‘Stop, stop, stop,’” the plane spotter was heard saying.
Delta told Fox News Digital on Monday it was unaware of an FAA investigation into the incident.
“Delta flight 471 operated as normal, and we are not aware of any communication from the FAA regarding this flight,” a spokesperson said. “We are cooperating with aviation officials on their investigation.”
The near-collision came days after a Jeju Air flight crashed in South Korea, killing 179 people. Jeju Air Flight 2216 was attempting to land at Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Jeolla Province, at the time of the catastrophe.
The No. 19 Gonzaga men’s basketball team had landed in Los Angeles from Spokane, Washington for their matchup on Saturday against No. 15 UCLA.
The Bruins defeated the Bulldogs, 65-62, with star guard Eric Dailey Jr. scoring 18 for UCLA. Gonzaga’s Graham Ike had 24 points with eight rebounds and two assists.
The Bulldogs’ Ryan Nembhard had a chance to tie the game at 63 apiece with a free throw, but despite usual success at the charity stripe, he missed to keep the Bruins lead at one with 10 seconds left and UCLA never let it slip.
Gonzaga remains in California as they’re set to face the Pepperdine Waves on Monday night before heading back to Washington in the new year.
Fox News Digital reached out to Key Lime Air for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
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