A charter flight transporting the Los Angeles Clippers to Colorado last month experienced some serious problems en route, handing the team a major scare.
The game they had coming up, a Western Conference battle against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, was the last thing on players’ minds after the plane they were on lost altitude as a result of getting struck by a bolt of lightning.
ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk described the frightening events from February 25 in an article this Wednesday.
“The Clippers’ plane began to shake and rattle before a loud bang could be heard. Some staffers saw a flash on the right side of the aircraft as the engine went eerily silent for a moment before roaring back to life and filling the cabin with thunderous revving.
“The plane dropped in altitude several times and shrieks could be heard from passengers in what some staffers called one of the worst moments they’ve experienced on a flight.”
Guard Bones Hyland took to Twitter to admit he thought it was the end after the report dropped.
Eric Gordon, another Clippers guard, said it was the second-worst flight he’s experienced in 15 years.
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“Us players, we’re trying to nap away,” he recalled. “Oh, everybody was up after that for sure.”
Fortunately, the pilot was able to land the plane safely in Colorado. Players noticed some paint had been taken off the aircraft when they disembarked, a result of it getting struck by the lightning.
The Clippers lost the away game to the Nuggets the following night but must have been happy to just be alive after the in-flight ordeal. They lost three consecutive games after that, having lost the one leading up to it too.
Since then, they’ve strung three straight wins together and are sixth in the Western Conference.
