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NEW ORLEANS – North Carolina’s basketball team took a bit longer than expected to arrive in New Orleans on Wednesday night, but the Tar Heels eventually landed at Louis Armstrong International Airport.
The Tar Heels left Raleigh-Durham International Airport at 7 PM EST, but with a massive storm that included winds up to 80 miles per hour that also spawned numerous tornadoes, the Tar Heels were unable to land at their original time.
So, with the storm slowly hanging over the greater New Orleans area, the plane was “in a holding pattern west of New Orleans,” Steve Kirschner, Sr. Assoc. Athletic Director/Sports Information & Media Relations, texted THI from the plane as it was preparing to land.
Kirschner said the plane was in that holding pattern for “maybe an hour,” but was eventually given clearance to land once the winds dropped to around 10 miles per hour. UNC’s plane touched down at approximately 10 PM EST, which was 9 PM New Orleans time.
Carolina won the East Regional on Sunday by defeating St. Peter’s and advanced to their NCAA-record 21st Final Four. UNC will face arch rival Duke in the national semifinals on Saturday night at the Superdome in New Orleans at approximately 8:50 EST.
