[ad_1]
Members of the Utah Jazz feared for their lives after the team’s charter plane collided with a flock of birds shortly after takeoff on Tuesday, causing a fire and engine failure and forcing a landfall. ’emergency.
“For a good 10 or 15 minutes I think we all wondered if we were going to be here today,” Jazz playmaker Mike Conley said after the 111-107 road win over the Memphis Grizzlies. , Wednesday evening. “That’s how serious it was for us. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know guys were trying to text their family just in case, you know? It was that kind of situation.
Jazz star Donovan Mitchell missed Wednesday’s game because of what the team called “personal reasons.” Mitchell, who has spoken of his fear of flying in the past, did not join the team on their flight from Salt Lake City to Memphis that took off hours after the emergency landing.
“We got to that point where we were all on the plane like, ‘Maybe this is really the end of it,'” Jazz sixth man Jordan Clarkson said. “I mean, it was a crazy situation. I fully understand why Don didn’t come.”
Mitchell playfully tweeted the support of his teammates throughout the Grizzlies win.
During his pre-game media availability, Utah coach Quin Snyder declined to answer a question about whether Tuesday’s frightening incident could impact the availability of Mitchell for future road games. The Jazz, who have a home game this weekend, are scheduled to play on the road Monday in Dallas.
Snyder said the Jazz met Wednesday morning in Memphis to help each other in the terrifying experience.
“I don’t know if an experience like this suddenly passed and went away,” Snyder said. “Everyone has been affected in different ways, all very significant. And it 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. “
Conley said it was like there had been an explosion on the plane, a Delta charter. He said the plane immediately began to bounce and tilt to the left, and people in the back saw flames as the altitude decreased during the flight.
“Nobody knows. Everyone’s calm,” said Conley, who had 26 points and seven assists in the win over the Grizzlies. “It took the pilots five to ten minutes, probably about 10 minutes, to go through everything, go through their checks and contact us and let us know what was going on. Because it was obvious something was wrong. not with the plane.
“I felt like the plane was falling apart in the air. For five or 10 minutes it was like utter helplessness. We are thankful that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it was was scary. “
Snyder, Clarkson and Conley each praised the pilots for their composure, professionalism and expertise in performing the emergency landing.
“This is definitely something, an experience, that we are happy to be able to relate,” said Clarkson. “A lot of us really got to a point… at least 30 seconds into that flight, everyone got to the point where it was like, ‘Man, maybe it’s over for us. “Sad to say that, I don’t play with death or anything like that.
“It’s just something that we have to move forward and come together and carry on, stay strong, support each other. How long we have to take off, or talk to our mental health specialists or whatever, is a serious situation if you’ve never been faced with life or death. “
[ad_2]
Source link