The Minnesota Vikings hit a bit of unexpected turbulence on Saturday-before even getting into game mode.
The team’s charter flight to New Jersey for Sunday’s matchup against the New York Giants was delayed after a mechanical issue forced their original plane to turn around mid-flight. Roughly an hour after taking off from Minneapolis-St.
Paul Airport, the aircraft had to return to the Twin Cities due to a malfunction with the landing gear hatch, which didn’t close properly after takeoff. That’s not something you want to mess with at 30,000 feet.
After a few hours of delay and some logistical scrambling, the Vikings were finally airborne again around 7:30 p.m. Central Time. They’re now en route to Newark, with plans to head straight to their team hotel once they land-well past bedtime on the East Coast.
It’s a less-than-ideal travel day, especially with kickoff looming less than 24 hours later. The flight itself clocks in at about three hours, meaning the team won’t be touching down in New Jersey until close to midnight local time. That’s a late arrival for a team that needs to be locked in for a Sunday afternoon game, especially one with playoff implications still hanging in the balance.
This isn’t an isolated incident, either. The Vikings aren’t the only NFL squad to run into travel headaches this week. The Los Angeles Rams dealt with their own flight delays heading into Seattle for Thursday Night Football, proving that even in a league built on precision and preparation, sometimes the biggest challenge is just getting there.
While the delay isn’t likely to derail the Vikings’ game plan, it’s certainly an unwelcome wrinkle in the rhythm of a tightly scheduled weekend. NFL teams are creatures of habit-timing, rest, and routine matter. A late-night arrival the day before a game can throw off everything from sleep schedules to pregame walkthroughs.
Still, these are pros. The hope now is that the rest of the trip goes smoothly and the team can shift its focus back to the task at hand: trying to notch a crucial win on the road against a Giants squad that’s looking to play spoiler.
Bottom line: the Vikings are finally back in the air, and if all goes to plan, they’ll be wheels down in Jersey soon enough.