Jayhawks land safely in Kansas after engine failure on previous flight

By Matt Tait     Dec 30, 2019

Associated Press
Kansas head coach Bill Self yells during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Stanford in Stanford, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Topeka — Roughly 19 hours later than they were supposed to arrive, the Kansas Jayhawks finally made it back to Kansas just after 6 p.m. Monday.

Delayed almost a full day after the failure of one of the two engines on their Swift Air charter flight home from Stanford on Sunday evening, the Jayhawks arrived at Forbes Field a little weary but no worse for the wear.

“It probably wasn’t exactly as portrayed,” KU coach Bill Self said of the incident that forced the Jayhawks to return to San Jose shortly after taking off on Sunday night. “It was a little scary and certainly it was a shock, but the pilots did a great job and everybody was calm and it was a relatively smooth ride back. Initially, there was a pretty loud sound and a lot of vibrations and I think it did rattle us initially.”

Loaded onto a Boeing 737-400 aircraft with first-class seating for roughly 80 passengers, the Jayhawks left San Jose International Airport on time following Sunday’s 72-56 win over Stanford. But about 20 minutes into the flight, one of the engines blew. A KU administrator captured and tweeted out video of the malfunctioning engine, and shortly thereafter the flight crew elected to return to San Jose.

Self said the pilot told him there were two reasons for the decision to turn around. First, they did not want to get over the mountains with just one working engine. Second, protocol dictates that even though flying long distances with one engine and plenty of fuel is possible, it is not recommended because of the potential for something to happen to the other engine.

A native of Oklahoma and graduate of Oklahoma State, Self admitted Monday that his mind briefly went to thoughts of the Oklahoma State plane crash from 2001 that killed 10 people. But, as Self noted, that was a much smaller plane and this was a much more controlled situation.

“It was a nervous time for a short amount of time, and we’re counting our blessings today,” Self said. “But it wasn’t like it was an emergency landing or anything like that. I don’t want to make this out to be more than what it was. It was obviously serious but not serious to the point where anybody was in panic mode or anything like that.”

On more than one occasion Monday, Self used the word calm to describe the demeanor of the 60-65 players, coaches, administrators and donors who were on Sunday’s flight.

He said he could not talk to many people during the incident because he was in his seat and needed to remain there with his seat belt fastened until the plane approached the gate.

“There was no conversation,” Self said. “I sit 10 rows in front of the guys and I didn’t (talk to them) until after we touched down. They told me when it happened and I stood up to check on everybody. They all knew something was going on because there was obviously a mood change.”

KU forward Mitch Lightfoot, who, like many of his teammates, tweeted out his prayers and appreciation for the good outcome on Sunday night, said he could not remember exactly what he was thinking during the heat of the moment.

“I was just praying hard and hoping we were back on the Earth in a short amount of time,” Lightfoot said.

One thing that did cross his mind was the fact that, before takeoff, he had not sent his mother a text that he was taking off like he normally does.

“This was like the one time I didn’t and I was like, ‘There’s no way in hell,'” Lightfoot said.

Although the Jayhawks’ ability to contact their families was limited until the plane got closer to the ground — Self said the engine failed at around 31,000 feet — Self said everyone seemed fine once the plane finally came to a stop. He also said no one had any issue getting on Monday’s plane to come home.

“I talked to each one of them and each one of them said they were doing OK,” Self said. “One of them was a little rattled, but he seemed fine by an hour or so after. There’s a lot of people flying a lot, all the time, and you hear about these things that occur unfortunately too often. But, still, you always think when it does it’s somebody else or somebody you don’t know. So this kind of hit home.”

Self said the unexpected schedule change did not have a negative impact on the Jayhawks’ plans for the week. They had planned to practice Monday and Tuesday and take Wednesday off but now will practice Tuesday and Wednesday and use Monday as the off day.

“It was a crazy situation and I’m glad to be back in Lawrence,” Lightfoot said. “It feels awesome, and I can’t wait to get back to my bed on campus.”

Added Self: “We’re home, and it feels good. The fact that we committed 14 turnovers the first half (against Stanford) really didn’t matter much (Sunday) night.”

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.