The Federal Aviation Administration launched an investigation into what was a near-catastrophe when a Delta flight nearly crashed into the Gonzaga men’s basketball charter plane at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday.
Footage from the moment showed that Delta Flight 471 was about to take off when an air traffic controller was heard yelling, “Stop, stop, stop!” on the charter plane ferrying the men’s basketball team across the rink.
Fortunately, the warning worked as the Delta flight took off without crashing into the Gonzaga charter.
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An overview as Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Kaylynne Truong (14) dribbles the ball against UC Irvine Anteaters guard Shirel Nahum (12) in the Gonzaga University logo at center court in the first half at the McCarthey Athletic Center. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
A plane spotter, Kevin Ray, also uploaded a video to YouTube and could be heard saying, “Wow!” since it was very close to being a very serious situation.
Most commercial airliners reach between 150 and 180 miles per hour before takeoff, depending on the weight of the plane. So the impact of the charter plane could have been lethal.
“In the years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never heard an ATC controller tell an airplane, ‘Stop, stop, stop,'” the airplane spotter was heard saying.
A Delta Air Lines plane sits on the tarmac Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at South Bend International Airport. (IMAGE)
The No. 19 Gonzaga men’s basketball team had landed in Los Angeles from Spokane, Washington for its Saturday matchup 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 scored 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 the usual success at the charity stripe, he failed to keep the Bruins’ lead at one with 10 seconds left and UCLA never did. he let out.
Gonzaga Bulldogs logo on short during a game against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the second half at McCarthey Athletic Center. (Images by James Snook-Imagn)
Gonzaga remains in California as they take on the Pepperdine Waves on Monday night before returning to Washington in the new year.
