After a disappointing loss to the Bengals on Sunday, the Cleveland Browns had to endure one of the most harrowing plane rides their lives.
The brief 45-minute flight separates the two Ohio rivals, but severe weather in the Midwest — which also delayed the Bears-Ravens game in Chicago for nearly two hours — forced the Browns’ team plane to land at Cleveland Hopkins Airport amid heavy rain and 50 mph winds.
“It was terrifying,” guard Jason Pinkston told Cleveland.com on Monday. “It was the real thing. The weather was so bad. We were coming in to land and [the pilot] had to go kind of fast to balance it out and we came down and we hit on two wheels. The [left] wing was literally three feet from hitting the ground.
“We’re actually pretty lucky to be alive right now, to be honest. We really escaped one. We got away with one last night.”
The Browns coaching staff reportedly played it cool throughout the ordeal, but Pinkson wasn’t the only passenger with white knuckles. Defensive lineman Billy Winn — whom teammate Paul Kruger joked was “shaking like a little girl” — also admitted to being a little on edge during the precarious landing.
“Holy cow,” Winn said. “I swear the wing was a couple feet from the ground. At the last second it was dead quiet right before the landing. We’re going to land and it got real quiet and I heard this big gust of wind and it went like that [a tilting motion with his hand] and came back and we recovered. We had a great pilot. A fantastic pilot. Bless his heart for getting here safely.
“If they said it wasn’t that bad they’re lying to you. It was a little rough.”
Luckily for Pinkston, Winn and Co., the Browns will play their next two games at home before traveling to New England in Week 14.
