University basketball team narrowly escapes death, plane accident averted in US
The last week of 2024 has not been good for air traffic. There were 3 major plane accidents at the end of December. On Tuesday, a major plane accident was averted in Washington. A private jet carrying the men's basketball team of Gonzaga University in Washington narrowly avoided a collision with a plane at Los Angeles International Airport. Because an air control office sent a message to the plane as soon as it saw the situation.
In the viral video on social media, it can be seen how an officer is ordering "Stop, stop, stop" after seeing both the planes coming close. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has started an investigation into this incident that happened on Friday.
How did the danger arise?
In fact, the Embraer E135 jet was about to take off with the Gonzaga University men's basketball team when a Lime Air flight 563 started taking off from the other runway, which increased the risk of the two planes colliding. This accident was averted due to the prudence of the officials.
🚨✈️ FAA INVESTIGATES NEAR COLLISION AT LAX INVOLVING GONZAGA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL TEAM
— Kacee Allen (@KaceeRAllen) December 30, 2024
The FAA is investigating after a close call at LAX where a Delta plane nearly collided with the Gonzaga men's basketball team's chartered Embraer E135 jet.
The jet had just arrived from… pic.twitter.com/JqFopMw6kc
The FAA said in its statement, "The air traffic controller instructed Key Lime Air Flight 563 to stop before crossing the runway at Los Angeles International Airport because another aircraft was taking off from the runway at that time. When the Embraer E135 jet aircraft began to cross the hold bar, the air traffic controller asked the pilots to stop, the jet also did not cross the runway edge line."
The entire incident was captured on a plane-spotting live stream, which recorded audio of an air traffic controller telling the Lime Air flight to “wait, wait, wait.” The flight immediately stopped and then moved forward after a few moments. It was flying from Spokane, Washington to Los Angeles. The university acknowledged the incident and said, “Our team members on board the flight were unaware of the situation and we are grateful that everyone is safe.”