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As the Utah Jazz took off Tuesday afternoon to travel to Memphis for Wednesday night’s game, Jordan Clarkson was “a bad kid” and got up to grab something from his bag.
By the time he was almost back in his seat, that’s when everyone heard – and felt – the boom.
Their chartered plane had struck a flock of birds, shattering the plane’s left engine and creating a sense of helpless dread as many on board wondered if they were about to die.
“For 10, 15 minutes, I think we all wondered if we were going to be here today,” said Mike Conley in Wednesday’s post-game media session. “That’s how serious it was for us. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know some guys were trying to text family, just in case. It was that kind of situation.
Clarkson supported this.
“For a lot of people on that plane it was like one of those flights where you were texting – like you’ve seen in movies where a plane talks about the crash,” he said. . “It got to this point, where we were all on the plane like, ‘This could really be the end.’ ‘
Conley recalled how he, Clarkson, Joe Ingles, Derrick Favors and Miye Oni were all located between the two wings when “suddenly it felt like there was an explosion”.
He described the feeling that the plane had sunk into something huge. Then the left engine useless, the plane inscribed on the side. Then he lost altitude. People sitting in the back of the plane said they saw flames coming from the engine. The jet began to shake violently.
“It was obvious that something was really wrong with the plane,” Conley said. “I had the impression that the plane was falling apart in the air.”
As the flight crew worked to diagnose what had happened and to regain control of the plane, the guard added, a feeling of “utter helplessness” swept over the passengers.
Coach Quin Snyder, recounting the pre-game situation, described the silent gravity of the moments that followed.
“One of the engines blew up, and there’s a point – in this case, probably a 10 or 15 minute window – where the pilots assess the situation, and no one really knows what’s going on,” he said. -he declares. “… The pilots – you get an appreciation for their expertise and their training and everything they do to protect us all – they go through their various protocols and checklists, and while that is happening you are in limbo. . And it’s a traumatic and strange feeling.
Clarkson recalled the calming effect it had when the flight attendants, then the pilot, took the intercom to explain what had happened and how they turned around and returned to the international airport in Salt Lake City.
Not that their words could completely alleviate the fear that had set in.
“They said they were turning around. So it was really a heartwarming thing. But we were all looking out the window like, ‘Dude, land anywhere. We don’t care, ”said Clarkson. “’Please just put this plane down and let us live and get over this.’ ‘
The plane landed safely at the airport. The Jazz disembarked, waited there a few hours for a replacement plane to arrive, and then finally made it to Memphis – thankfully without incident – on Tuesday night.
Well, everyone except All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell. Shortly after their second plane took off, the Jazz announced that Mitchell would miss the game, that he was not with the team for personal reasons.
Snyder politely hesitated when asked if the combination of Mitchell’s publicly acknowledged fear of stealing and Tuesday’s incident was the reason for the guard’s absence. our players, ”he said,“ and I hope you can respect that ”), although Clarkson acknowledged that was the reason.
“It was a crazy situation – I fully understand why Don didn’t come,” he said.
Snyder did say the team met on Wednesday morning to give everyone a chance to work through their lingering emotions.
These tense and uncertain moments, he explained, couldn’t help but arouse a variety of intense feelings.
“I don’t know if an experience like this suddenly passed and went away. Everyone has been affected in different ways, all very important, ”he said. “And that wasn’t something we were going to solve by just talking about everything, but I think it was important to recognize what we’ve all been through. [Tuesday], and, really, that same feeling of gratitude and appreciation for the fragility we all live with, sometimes without realizing it.
They are certainly aware of it now.
“It put life in perspective for all of us,” Conley said. “We are all thankful to be here and to do what we love to do.
“… We are grateful that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been,” he added, “but it was scary.
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