Fans of the Minnesota Vikings know that nothing ever goes smoothly for the team. Whether it is freak accidents or terrible circumstances, things just don't seem to go the way the purple and gold hope they will.
Another example of the chaos that surrounds the Vikings happened on Saturday when the team attempted to travel from Minnesota to take on the New York Giants in New Jersey for their Week 16 game on Sunday.
The Minnesota Vikings travel to take on the New York Giants became complicated on Saturday due to mechanical issues with the airplane.
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero shared on X that the flight from Minneapolis to Newark experienced some "mechanical issues" that prevented the team from completing the flight, forcing them to turn the plane around.
The Vikings’ team plane to Newark had to turn around today and return to Minneapolis because of mechanical issues.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 20, 2025
Minnesota is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. Sunday against the Giants in East Rutherford, N.J.
Statement from the team: “Shortly after departing, the team plane…
The Vikings issued this statement on the incident:
“Shortly after departing, the team plane experienced mechanical issues that required a return to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The team will board a second plane momentarily and is now expected to arrive at Newark International Airport later tonight.”
Thankfully, there wasn't a major delay that would cause other complications, but it is still inconvenient that mechanical issues happened on the team's flight. However, it does seem to fall in line with the misfortune this franchise seems to endure regularly.
The Minnesota Vikings are scheduled to play the New York Giants at noon Central time in New Jersey. They should still have plenty of time to arrive and be ready to play, but inconveniences like that can throw everything out of whack pretty easily.
Surprisingly, it wasn't an issue with the weather or something else, but instead an issue with the airplane itself that prevented the team from making the scheduled flight for this week's game on the road.
The good news is that the Minnesota Vikings will close out the 2025 NFL season with two games against division opponents, and both of those games will take place at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. That means that there will not be any team travel issues for the purple and gold, but games in late December and early January can be as unpredictable as ever, considering the harsh weather the state gets.
Hopefully, the mechanical issues of the plane won't create any further problems for the team, and the upcoming game will be well-prepped and planned for. Although the Vikings aren't a playoff team this year, Minnesota needs to prove it can defeat the two-win Giants.