Update (11;37 AM): The Steelers are on a new plane and ready to takeoff. Per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, the team should be wheels down in Pittsburgh around 1:30 PM/EST.
The Pittsburgh Steelers team charter plane was diverted to Kansas City during the team’s return to Pittsburgh following their 23-18 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. The plane, which obviously originated from Vegas, had to make an emergency stop but everyone on the plane is safe, team spokesman Burt Lauten tweeted out.
While it’s no doubt a scary situation, it won’t impact Pittsburgh’s game-planning too much ahead of their Week Four matchup against the Houston Texans. That’s not what matters, as the health and safety of everyone involved is obviously the priority, but it does sound like everyone is ok.
Lauten said that the team will be making plans to return to Pittsburgh at some point today, and with the team having both today and tomorrow off, there will be plenty of time to rest upon the team’s return to Pennsylvania.
Defensive lineman Cameron Heyward was able to make light of the situation, tweeting at Kansas City Chiefs superstar tight end Travis Kelce and his girlfriend, singer/songwriter Taylor Swift, “Yo we might need a ride to Pittsburgh.” Swift made national news for attending Kelce’s game at Arrowhead Stadium, a blowout win over the Chicago Bears, earlier today. He also joked the plane was diverted due to Minkah Fitzpatrick’s incredibly questionable roughing the passer penalty.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Steelers remain on the same plane in Kansas City as they await another plane to come and take them to Pittsburgh. The Steelers were due to arrive at 5:30 a.m. this morning, but their new arrival time is uncertain. Brooke Pryor of ESPN reported at 10:47 AM that the Steelers still remained on their plane as they awaited a new aircraft.
WTAE reported that the landing was due to the oil pressure light coming on in the plane, and the emergency landing occurred at 3:55 a.m. It’s an unfortunate situation, but with everyone being ok, it’s luckily nothing more than just an inconvenience for the Steelers. It seems as if the spirits are still high after getting a road win over Las Vegas with Heyward able to joke about the incident, and soon enough the Steelers will be home and resting in their own beds.
UPDATE (9:31 AM): Per ESPN, a replacement plane is expected to pick the team up later this morning to take them back to Pittsburgh.
UPDATE (10:19 AM): Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Steelers’ plane remains in Kansas City, though a replacement plane has arrived in Kansas City. The Steelers’ new plane is expected to depart from Kansas City around 11:30 a.m. CT, which is 12:30 p.m. ET.
Talk about a long, long night in Vegas…
