The Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team landed in Chicago to find that the nose of their charter plane had been crushed like an eggshell.
“What possibly could we have hit in the SKY at this time of night?” player Carmelo Anthony asked in his post on Instagram.
Delta Airlines later said the charter plane which had flown the team from Minneapolis to Chicago apparently collided with a bird early Saturday as it was landing.
But before Delta’s announcement, players on the NBA team publicly pondered the cause.
Thunder player Steven Adams tweeted to NASA and scientists Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye: “30,000 feet in the air … What caused this?”
30000 feet in the air.
Flying to chicago.
What caused this? pic.twitter.com/uEVrEm7noi
“I guess we hit something,” player Josh Huestis tweeted.
Delta Airlines spokeswoman Elizabeth Wolf said maintenance was evaluating the situation and that the damage was likely caused by a collision with a bird. She said the Boeing 757-200 landed safely without incident at Chicago’s Midway International Airport.
A spokesperson for the team told The Oklahoman newspaper that all of its players, staff and coaches were safe. The Thunder lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves 119-116 on Friday night. Oklahoma City plays the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
