Plane carrying Johns Hopkins football team forced to land after engine lost power

BALTIMORE - A plane carrying the Johns Hopkins football team from Baltimore to Minneapolis for its NCAA Division III playoff semifinal at UW-River Falls was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Columbus, Ohio, after one of the plane's engines lost thrust Friday morning.

The team departed Baltimore around 9 a.m., but about one hour into the flight, one of the engines on the plane began to malfunction, according to Ernie Larossa, associate athletic director and director of athletic communications who is traveling with the team. He said that the pilots never lost control of the jet, and the team was unaware of what occurred.

"If they didn't come on and tell us, we wouldn't have known," he said. "We didn't feel any difference in how the plane was flying."

After about a 4 1/2 hour wait, the Blue Jays reboarded a different jet and continued onto Minneapolis, Larossa said. Although the team must still bus from Minneapolis to River Falls, Wisconsin, the players and coaches are planning to participate in a one-hour walkthrough Friday afternoon.

Johns Hopkins will face UW-River Falls Saturday at 1 p.m. The Blue Jays (12-1), who are ranked No. 8 in the most recent D3football.com poll, will make their third overall appearance in the Final Four (all since 2018), while the No. 3 Falcons (12-1) will make their debut at this stage of the postseason.

The other semifinal pits reigning national champion and No. 1 North Central (13-0) against No. 9 John Carroll (12-1) Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in Naperville, Ill. The winners of the semifinals will advance to the title game known as the Stagg Bowl on Jan. 4 at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.

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