UC Davis coach Jim Les praises Southwest pilots, his players after bird strikes jet engine
Jim Les is in a profession that travels, so he’s experienced his share of bumpy flights and white-knuckle experiences.
But this one was different. This one, for several tense moments Tuesday night, felt and sounded ominous, when about the only thing passengers on Southwest Flight 1096 could hear besides the crunching engine sounds was their own pounding heartbeats.
“I don’t want to minimize it,” said Les, the UC Davis men’s basketball coach said Wednesday morning by phone, “but for a few moments there when we hit the bird, the plane labored. Right away, there was a sense that there was something wrong, a loud noise, and you’re looking around — ‘What was that? What are the issues? What if this thing goes down? Are your affairs in order? You ready for this?’ There’s no question that for a moment, it all crosses your mind.”
UCD players and staff and other passengers were on their way to Hollywood Burbank Airport to play Wednesday night against Cal State Northridge in a Big West contest. The coaches sat in the front of that flight and players were scattered about, the taller ones placed by the exits for extra legroom.
Shortly after the Boeing 737-700 departed Sacramento International Airport at 5:47 p.m., a bird struck the left engine. For nearly 10 minutes, passengers sat silently. The pilot then assured passengers that the engine was still functioning — with a “horrendous noise” as Aggies radio voice Scott Marsh described — and that the plane would make an emergency return to Sacramento.
But not immediately. The twin-jet aircraft made a circle north to Yuba City for some 45 minutes to burn off fuel, the engine still laboring with sounds. The plane landed without incident at 6:19 p.m. The flight was greeted on a crowded runway with first responders — police, fire trucks and ambulances — all ready to take on a disaster.
Applause and deep sighs filled the aircraft. Within an hour, passengers boarded another flight. That plane made it to Burbank without incident, Les said.
Les praised the pilots and Southwest staff. He said the scary experience may bond an already close UCD team even more. Several UCD players are relatively new to flying. Junior guard Kane Milling, a native of Nantes, France, is the team’s most experienced flier. Les said he could hear Milling assuring teammates as the team was burning off fuel that all will be well.
Les let his players sleep in on Wednesday before an early afternoon shootaround at Northridge.
“We’re glad to be safe and sound,” Les said. “For all the bad publicity Southwest has received with (weather-related flight delays during the holidays), the crew was really good, really solid, and they handled the issue without panic, kept everyone calm and reassured everybody that we’d be OK.”
Les added, “We have some guys who are not great fliers to begin with, and they were a little rattled, understandably so. The aftermath was that everyone was on edge, but nothing over the top. There was a sense of relief, and the applause from everyone when we did land, it was real. The appreciation was real. The ability to take a deep breath was a positive.”
He added, “The guys we have that are good fliers assured our other guys that flying is safe. We did offer our guys that if they wanted to take an 8-hour bus ride down, we could arrange that. They had a gut check and decided to take the 1-hour flight into Burbank, which was smooth.”
In his 12th year with Davis, Les said his young team has a lot to play for, starting this week. UCD is 8-7 entering Wednesday’s game, having opened the season with an inspired win at Cal, halting a 0-33 streak to the Bears, and the Aggies used a second-half charge to defeat Sacramento State 82-71 at Golden 1 Center.
UCD is led in scoring by 6-foot-4 guard Elijah Pepper (18.7 points a game) and guard Ty Johnson (16 points a game). The Aggies have one senior in forward Christian Anigwe, averaging 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Remembering the Kings’ AirBall 1
Les has taken hundreds of flights before his 24-year career in coaching. He played professional basketball from 1987 to 1995, including from 1990 to 1994 with the Kings. He recalled a flight some 25 years ago, while in the minor leagues, in which his flight departing Canada was struck by a bird.
“We had to quickly turn around,” Les said. “When you fly as much as you do in this business, you’re bound to have instances like this.”
When Les was with the Kings, he said there was a lot of light-hearted chatter of dooming their own team plane. It was aptly called “AirBall 1” because, for a stretch, it carried the worst road team of them all.
The Kings in the 1991-92 season halted a still-standing NBA record 43-game losing streak with a 95-93 victory at Orlando. Dick Motta, then the senior NBA coaching leader for games played, was so ecstatic in victory that he lifted the alcohol ban on AirBall 1 and treated the Kings to a treat for the flight home.
“We were going through significant struggles on the road,” Les said with a laugh. “We stopped on the way to the airport at a liquor store, and Motta loaded up the plane for a celebration. That flight back from Orlando was a lot quicker coming back. Never forget it.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2023 at 12:32 PM.