Unusual travel occurrences can hit anyone and on Saturday night, two college basketball teams got hit with tough circumstances after road games. Oregon State had to go back to the gate at LAX after a woman was stung by a scorpion, but some scary stuff happened to Mississippi State.
Following a 77-74 road win over Missouri, the Bulldogs boarded a plane home to Starkville in Columbia, Mo. After taking off, the plane lost an engine and the flight was grounded safely in St. Louis. According to a report from Creg Stephenson of GulfLive.com, after not being able to take off on a replacement flight to Lexington, the team opted to stay in Missouri. With Mardi Gras festivities taking up the hotel rooms in St. Louis, Mississippi State had to stay at a hotel an hour away in Festus, Missouri.
Bulldog head coach Rick Ray commented on the situation on Twitter:
[embed]
Loud noise! Later, flight attendant.."Don't worry, everything is fine. We just lost an engine & need to land". Oh, that's all? Landed safely
— Rick Ray (@RickRay1) February 15, 2015
[/embed]
If you ever find yourself in a travel emergency, stay close to Mississippi State spokesman Gregg Ellis. Ellis was also with the program when they played in the Georgia Dome when a tornado hit the area during a SEC Tournament game against Alabama in 2008.
[embed]
I've now survived a tornado during a game and a blown engine in flight. All with MSU basketball. So is that 7 lives left for me?
— Gregg G. Ellis🏴☠️ (@GreggGEllis) February 15, 2015
[/embed]