Carolina Panthers team plane skids off runway as players and staff forced to evacuate

A Delta airplane carrying Carolina Panthers players, coaches and staffers had skidded off of the runway after landing at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Friday morning after they had played the New England Patriots .

The plane had landed at around 2:35 am with Delta Flight 8860 arriving from Providence, Rhode Island , before the plane left the runway and skidded into the mud after a normal landing. No one on the plane was harmed.

A statement from the airline said: "The right main gear of Delta 8860 exited the taxiway at Charlotte Douglas International Airport following a normal arrival." The statement added: "We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."

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The incident had occurred after a day of heavy rainfall in the area after Tropical Storm Debby dumped a record precipitation on Charlotte.

This had happened just four hours after American Airlines flight attendants were hurt in a flight from Tampa Bay to Charlotte, according to WBTV , after unexpectedly severe turbulence before their landing at Charlotte Douglas. The four flight attendants were taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

The Panthers had flown home immediately after their game in Foxborough - making the short journey to Providence Airport before the two-hour flight back to North Carolina.

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The flight was said to have landed 46 minutes later than had been expected, before the worrying ordeal occurring after the plane had landed safely.

The Panthers were comfortably defeated by the Patriots, with number three overall draft pick Drake Maye taking to the field for the first time, along with fellow rookie quarterback Joe Milton - who scored the only passing touchdown of the game.

Carolina had played without its two top draft picks Xavier Legette and Johnathan Brooks not playing in the game, with the Panthers chose not to play the vast majority of their starters, with stars such as Jaycee Horn, Adam Thielen, Diontae Johnson, Jadeveon Clowney and Derrick Brown not suiting up.

The Panthers have a new coach for 2024, with former Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coach Dave Canales joining in the hopes of putting former number one overall draft pick Bryce Young back on track after his difficult rookie season.