When your football team is fighting for a playoff spot, the last thing a coach wants to see is a distraction on the eve of a key game.
But the Minnesota Vikings were faced with a major distraction on a snowy Friday afternoon, as their plane's rear wheel slipped off the runway as the Delta flight was approaching its arrival gate at Appleton International Airport in Wisconsin. The incident occurred at 5:15 p.m.
Nobody on the plane was injured, airport officials said. But players, coaches and team officials were stuck for several hours before fire officials at the scene used a truck's extension ladder to help the team off the aircraft, ESPN reported. The flight usually lasts an hour.
The Vikings (7-7) flew to Wisconsin to face Green Bay (8-6) on Saturday in a key NFC game with playoff implications. Minnesota needs a victory to remain in the hunt for a postseason berth, while the Packers need a victory to be no worse than the No. 5 seed in the conference as the teams head toward their final games of the regular season on New Year’s weekend.
For the most part, Vikings players were good-humored about the inconvenience. “How’s your day going?” Minnesota linebacker Chad Greenway tweeted as he posted a video from the plane.
Two aerial platform fire trucks were needed to get the 150 passengers off the plane, WBAY reported. The Fox Crossing Fire Department and New London Fire Department worked together to deplane the players and staff.
“We didn’t have equipment large enough for that aircraft here, so we had to call a platform truck to deplane the passengers,” Abe Weber of Appleton International Airport told WBAY.
The team could only leave the plane in small groups; the entire team had disembarked by 11:30 p.m.
The Vikings and Packers meet Saturday in a 1 p.m. game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
About the Author
