Jet carrying basketball team ordered to stop to avoid collision at LAX

A private jet carrying the Gonzaga University men’s basketball team nearly crossed a runway as another flight was taking off at Los Angeles International Airport

LOS ANGELES: The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation after a private jet carrying the Gonzaga University men’s basketball team nearly crossed a runway as another flight was taking off Friday at Los Angeles International Airport.

The plane operated by Key Lime Air was ordered by air traffic controllers to stop as a Delta aircraft took off. No one was injured. “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,” the FAA said in a statement.

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“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.”

A plane-spotting livestream shows the incident and captured audio of an air traffic controller telling the Key Lime Air flight to “stop, stop, stop.” The flight immediately stopped and then proceeded after a few moments. Gonzaga was in Los Angeles for its game against UCLA on Saturday.

The Bulldogs lost to the Bruins 65-62 in the first college basketball game played at Intuit Dome, the new home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.