Air traffic controllers at Edmonton International Airport had a bit of hilarious fun Wednesday night as the Florida Panthers’ plane arrived for landing from Fort Lauderdale.
A tropical disturbance that brought rare flash flooding to much of South Florida delayed the Panthers’ trip to the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Panthers’ flight, which had decided to spend an extra night in their own bed and skate at their Fort Lauderdale practice facility before flying to Edmonton for Games 3 and 4, was delayed by storms in South Florida.
Their plane, scheduled to take off at 1 PM EDT, didn’t take off until nearly 4:30 PM and was only able to land at Edmonton International Airport after 8 PM MDT.
“We didn’t like the idea of getting them up (Tuesday) early enough to get in at a reasonable hour in Edmonton,” Panthers coach Paul Morris said. “We didn’t see the value in it.”
As Delta Flight 8948 descended into Edmonton International Airport Wednesday night, air traffic controllers decided to have some fun with the pilots.
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“You’ll have to wait about two hours, until we run out of fuel and have to turn around at Edmonton,” the controller said.
“And mention this to your passengers too. “I think they’ll probably find out.”
After a while he said: “In my judgment, descend when Delta 8948 is ready.”
Five minutes later, the second pilot of the plane coming in for landing asked air traffic control if there were any hockey scores.
In response, air traffic controllers said the game was scheduled for Thursday and that the Panthers were preparing to land.
“Maybe we can change direction,” the pilot said.
Air traffic control responded, “I threatened them with the holding device to get them to turn, but I didn’t see them there.”
Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals takes place Thursday night. You can listen to the game live on 630 CHED. face off show It starts at 4pm, but the game starts at 6pm.
— With files from The Associated Press
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