The Gonzaga basketball team had a horrifyingly close call on Friday, when their plane nearly collided with a Delta jet on the LAX runway.
Mark Few and the Gonzaga basketball players had landed at LAX on a flight from Spokane, Washington on Friday ahead of Saturday’s game with the UCLA Bruins. Per Bill Feather of NBC Los Angeles, the Key Lime Air plane (carrying the team) was instructed to hold while an Atlanta-bound Delta jet took off.
Thankfully, tragedy and disaster were avoided when the heads-up air traffic controller ordered the Key Lime Air plane to, “Stop stop stop.” Footage of the bone-chilling close call has been released:
🚨 “STOP STOP STOP!” LAX ATC urgently called out to a Key Lime Air jet as a Delta jet took off from runway 24L. Was this a runway incursion? All of it captured live during Friday’s Airline Videos Live broadcast. pic.twitter.com/5vwQfVzggQ
— AIRLINE VIDEOS (@airlinevideos) December 28, 2024
Per Feather, the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the matter, with a spokesperson providing the following explanation:
“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.
“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.”
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NCAA stories via Google! Follow Us
The Gonzaga basketball team (ranked 19th) wound up falling 65-62 to UCLA (22nd) in a marquee showdown featuring two of the nation’s marquee programs. Graham Ike was the Bulldogs’ leading scorer with 24 points, eight rebounds and two assists.
Few’s Bulldogs will try to get back on track today when they take on the Pepperdine Waves (6-8) at 10:00 p.m. EST. They’ll kick off the new year two days later with a home clash vs. the Portland Pilots.
Gonzaga Basketball Still Searching For First National Championship
Despite being one of the country’s top college basketball programs for three decades, the men’s team still hasn’t won a national championship. Few led the school to national championship appearances in 2017 and 2021, but they lost both big games.
