The University of Kansas men's basketball team were having a great day after they defeated Stanford 72-56 in a road game and were ready to return home. However, the team's charter jet was forced to make an emergency landing on Sunday when one of aircraft's engines failed.
KU Athletic Department spokesman Dan Beckler said the malfunction began shortly after the team took off from Mineta San Jose International Airport.
“We were 20 minutes into the flight. There was this weird noise, just a little bit of a rattle,” Beckler told KansasCity.com. “It wasn’t just a normal turbulence. It was different. At that point, everybody was looking around to see what it was. The flight attendants were looking out the window to see what was going on.”
Passengers described hearing a loud "pop" shortly after the plane took off with vibrations that shook the jet. That's when the pilot got on the intercom and informed the passengers the plane had lost an engine.
Video posted to Twitter by Ryan White, a senior athletic director at the University of Kansas, appeared to show flames bursting out of the Swift Air jet's engine.
Fire crews from the San Jose Fire Department were called to meet Swift Air flight 5093 after it landed safely as a precautionary measure, but their services were not needed, officials with the airport said.
The team thanked the pilots and flight crew in a statement, saying the team would spend the night in San Jose before booking another flight back home to Kansas.
"The pilot immediately contacted the San Jose Airport where we returned and made a safe landing. We are grateful to the pilots and the entire flight crew of Swift Air," the Jayhawks' statement said.