A Delta Air Lines plane almost crashed into a charter jet carrying a men’s basketball team in a close call on a runway.
An Embraer E135 jet with the Gonzaga University Men’s Basketball team board touched down at Los Angeles International Airport and was taxiing to a gate when it appeared to continue toward a runway.
‘Stop, stop, stop!’ an air traffic controller could be heard shouting at the charter plane in video footage of the incident shared online.
The Embraer came to a halt as Delta Flight 471 lifted off from the runway and over the smaller aircraft.
A plane spotter recording on the runway could be heard exclaiming, ‘Woo! Woo! Woo!’ after the miss in a clip uploaded to YouTube.
‘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 said.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson said that air traffic controllers told charter Flight 563, operated by a company based in Denver, to stop before the runway because another aircraft was departing from there simultaneously.
‘When the Embraer E135 jet proceeded to cross the hold bars, air traffic controllers told the pilots to stop,’ said the spokesperson.
‘The jet never crossed the runway edge line.’
A representative for Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, declined to comment on the incident.
The charter plane company is working with its internal safety management systems and the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate what happened.
‘Key Lime Air takes pride in its pilots and training model, a regimen that demands the highest competency in the industry today,’ Key Lime Air senior vice president Jon Coleman told NBC 4.
‘Safety of those entrusted to us is our highest priority.’
The incident happened around 4.20pm on Friday, five days after an anxious passenger on an Alaska Airlines plane that touched down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport opened the emergency exit door and stepped out onto the wing.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
