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A plane carrying NBA players makes an emergency landing after colliding with a flock of birds
A charter jet carrying the Utah Jazz NBA team, including Australian sensation Joe Ingles, had to make an emergency landing on Tuesday (local time).
The Delta airline was forced to return to Salt Lake City airport after colliding with a flock of birds shortly after takeoff.
According to Flightradar24, which monitors global air traffic, the plane appeared to have an issue with its left engine.
#DL8944, Salt Lake City-Memphis, returned to SLC shortly after takeoff with what looked to be a problem with the left engine.
The Boeing 757-200 is powered by PW2037 engines. It’s a dedicated charter 757 aircraft from Delta.
The Jazz was flying to Memphis for a matchup against the Grizzlies on Wednesday.
“Fortunately, the jet landed safely,” according to a Jazz spokeswoman.
Delta eventually confirmed the incident while denying that the flight was a Jazz charter.
Delta said it was looking for a new plane for its “customers.”
“As the airplane was taking off, it collided with a flock of birds,” according to the statement.
Because the left engine failed, the pilot reported an emergency and returned to Salt Lake International Airport.
The airplane landed safely and was able to taxi back.
“Delta Airlines is looking for another plane to transport their guests to their destinations.”
Utah Jazz players exit the plane following the emergency landing. Image credit: KSTU
Utah Jazz players are grateful for a near-miss
Several Jazz players expressed their gratitude for the safe landing on social media.
Royce O’Neale tweeted shortly after the news broke, “GOD is good.”
Donovan Mitchell just tweeted an emoji of a praying hand.
“It’s a lovely day,” Rudy Gobert said on Twitter.
The Jazz will enter Wednesday’s game against the Grizzlies on a five-game winning run.
Utah’s 114-75 home victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers is the team’s eighth straight victory and greatest margin of victory this season.
Mitchell only played 25 minutes on Monday, but he has been scoring consistently since the All-Star break.
He has averaged 29.2 points in Utah’s previous 10 games while shooting 50% overall and 46.3 percent from 3-point range.
“I think my film job is the main cause,” Mitchell explained.
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“When you can’t always get the physical reps in a brief season and you need to rest your body, it’s the mental aspects of recognizing how teams will protect you, what will be open, and manipulating the conditions to achieve anything you want.”
Last week, the Jazz swept the Grizzlies in back-to-back sets in Utah, and they will seek to complete the season sweep this week.
Mitchell scored 35 points per game in all three games.
