The Minnesota Vikings’ team plane was dramatically forced into an unplanned landing on Saturday afternoon, shortly after taking off in Minneapolis.
According to NFL Insider Tom Pelissero, the plane had mechanical issues and had to quickly return to Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. It was on the way to Newark, New Jersey for the the Vikings’ game against New York Giants on Sunday.
A team statement said on Saturday: ‘Shortly after departing, the team plane experienced mechanical issues that required a return to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
‘The team will board a second plane momentarily and is now expected to arrive at Newark International Airport later tonight.’
Isaiah Rodgers, a cornerback on the team, posted on social media that the team are ‘ok’ but offered no further details about the incident.
Flight Radar showed how the plane turned around shortly after 2pm in Wisconsin and touched down back in Minneapolis at 3pm. The Vikings were on a replacement plane two hours’ later.
The plane the Minnesota Vikings were flying to Newark on was forced to turn around
The delay, while inconvenient, is not expected to significantly derail the team’s pregame plans and they should touch down in New Jersey later on Saturday evening.
The 6-8 Vikings are out of playoff contention in a NFC North packed with talent but Sunday’s game is important for the development of their quarterback, JJ McCarthy, who is playing in his first season with the team. He missed the entirity of his rookie campaign with a knee injury in camp last summer.
Coincidentally, the Vikings aren’t the only team who have been struggling with plane problems recently.
Earlier in the week, the Los Angeles Rams were ‘significantly delayed’ when they were trying to fly up the West Coast to Seattle for Thursday Night Football against the Seahawks.
A late equipment issue delayed the team shortly before they had planned to leave Los Angeles.
The Rams eventually left on a different flight two hours after they had initially planned. They would go on to lose the game 38-37 in overtime.
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