Jazz Team Plane Makes Immediate Landing After Hitting Birds During Takeoff
A Delta plane scheduled to transport the Utah Jazz from Salt Lake City to Memphis for the team's Wednesday evening road game against the Memphis Grizzlies was forced to make an emergency landing after striking a flock of birds.
Per Spencer Burt of Fox 13, no one was injured. The Boeing 757 pilot shut off the left engine and landed the plane safely without incident back at Salt Lake City International Airport.
Tony Jones of The Athletic provided more details:
The Jazz are currently scheduled to play Memphis on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET at FedExForum.
Utah is now scheduled to take off at 7:45 p.m. ET for Memphis, per Ken Clayton.
Brian Schnee of Fox 13 tweeted images showing damage to the plane:
Flightradar24, a global flight tracking service, provided a visual of the Boeing 757's path. Sean Moody also showed the plane being escorted down the runway.
As noted by Sarah Todd of the Deseret News, numerous Jazz players posted on social media after the incident, including Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert:
The Jazz currently sit first in the NBA standings at 35-11, and they are looking to win their seventh straight game.
