QB Kenny Pickett recaps Steelers' emergency landing
Following the victory over the Raiders last Sunday night, the Steelers' plane had to make an emergency landing in Kansas City. QB Kenny Pickett recapped what went down.
"The flight attendant woke me up and she's like, "We've got a code yellow alert," Pickett told reporters. "I was just like kind of out of it and was like, "What does that mean?" We're one step away from code red, so it's obviously not good. But we ended up landing safely and it was all good, but that was not fun to wake up to."
It was certainly a scary scenario and was later reported that there was an "oil pressure failure in one of the engines."
The team landed safely and got a replacement plane but didn't arrive back in Pittsburgh until 1:19 p.m. ET on Monday.
Steelers DT Cameron Heyward tried to make the most of the experience, blaming safety Minkah Fitzpatrick's "roughing the passer call" for the emergency landing and posting, "Yo [Taylor Swift] & [Travis Kelce] we might need a ride to Pittsburgh."
However, other players weren't spending their time like Heyward.
"Me, Mitch [Trubisky] and Mason [Rudolph] had a little chat about what we thought was going on. Some guys were panicking," Pickett added. "Crazy, crazy experience though. Definitely grateful when we landed and we were safe."
As terrible as it is to think about, the NFL does have a contingency plan should any team plane crash.
"In a "near disaster," in which fewer than 15 players are killed or lost for the season, teams would be required to play out the season but would receive priority on all waiver claims," per Alex Kozora.
In a "disaster," in which 15 or more players are killed or lost for the season, the commissioner decides whether the team will continue its season. If it does, the "near disaster" plan would kick in. If not, a restocking draft would take place in the offseason and the team would get the No. 1 pick in that year's NFL Draft.
Thankfully neither is the case for the Steelers, who must go back on the road to face the Texans in Week 4.
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