The Utah Jazz will resume their trip to Memphis after a frightening experience earlier in the day.
The Jazz’s team charter plane was forced to turn around Tuesday shortly after takeoff when the aircraft struck a flock of birds while taking flight. The plane turned around immediately and safely returned to Salt Lake City International Airport.
Luckily, no one was hurt. But some still were very much shaken up by the incident, according to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix.
Flames were spewing out of the engine after the collision “followed by a palpable shaking,” per the report.
Yikes.
The plane involved in the incident took a bit of beating, with damage to both its engine and front end. Here’s a look at the aftermath, via FOX13’s Brian Schnee:
The team boarded a new plane a short time later.
The Jazz remain atop the Western Conference standings with a 35-11 record and would be the No. 1 seed if the NBA playoffs started now. They have won three straight games heading into Wednesday’s matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies, which remains on as scheduled.
