I had a fearful experience until the end of the spring camp, where I left in search of warm weather. The KIA team was stranded in a blizzard that hit Los Angeles for the first time in 34 years.
KIA departed for Korea from Tucson, Arizona, USA, the first campsite on the afternoon of the 24th local time (25th Korean time). It was a schedule to take a Skywest domestic flight from Tucson and arrive in Incheon via Los Angeles. However, the departure from Tucson was delayed by three hours. The deteriorating weather in Los Angeles, the destination, was the cause. Los Angeles had its first blizzard in 34 years that day.
It took off three hours late, but did not even land at Los Angeles Airport. They attempted to land twice, but both failed due to the violent shaking of the aircraft, and eventually landed only after turning the plane to another nearby airport. A KIA official who was on board said, “When we tried to land the second time, the aircraft was shaken so badly that all the passengers, including the players, screamed. It seems that the captain was wise to abandon the landing. It was really scary,” he said.
Fortunately, the plane the team was on landed safely at another airport. However, a schedule of hardships awaited the athletes who experienced life-and-death fear.
The KIA team was supposed to take an Asiana flight to Incheon at 11:00 p.m. local time, but both take-off and landing were delayed, and they landed at another airport, so they couldn’t get on. . Let’s stay up all night at the airport, KIA moved to the city and quickly found a place to stay. The athletes were also divided into several groups and moved to Los Angeles International Airport by van. The players were allowed to sleep, and the front desk staff at the club stayed up all night with accommodations, transfers, and new flights. 안전놀이터
The flight to Incheon, which I took again, departed safely, but it is still a problem when I arrive in Korea.
KIA arrived in Incheon on the morning of the 26th and was scheduled to leave for Okinawa, Japan. However, the arrival time itself was delayed to 5:00 pm on the 26th, making it impossible to board the flight to Okinawa. As there were not enough seats on the flight to Okinawa, the team split on different planes, but the schedule was delayed even further. A KIA official said, “It seems that we will have to spend one or two nights in Incheon. I think the team will go to Okinawa on the 27th and 28th,” he said.
KIA originally planned to arrive in Okinawa on the 26th and start the second battery training from the 27th. Starting with Hanwha on the 28th, we had scheduled 5 matches, including Samsung (March 1), Lotte (3), Samsung (5), and Hanwha (7), but the 28th Hanwha match became impossible.
Six out of 10 clubs in the league this year set up spring camps in Arizona, USA. Among them, KIA, KT, NC 3 clubs and the WBC national team trained in Tucson, but could not properly digest training due to the cold, snow, rain, and strong winds. KIA again chose Arizona as a training ground for the first time in 7 years since 2006, but ended training without being able to play all of the two scheduled practice games with NC in an abnormal climate that was very different from before. Even the road to the 2nd camp is stuck in a snowstorm for the first time in 34 years and is going through a difficult journey.