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The Jets were in an Empire State of Mind Sunday night after toppling the New England Patriots.
As the team’s charter flight descended toward Newark Airport, the captain called an audible and asked the tower for permission to veer closer to the Empire State Building, which was lit up in the team’s colors.
“Well I’ve had an unusual request,” the captain said. “If it’s green and white, these guys actually want to get as close as we could to see it.”
Like an airborne offensive line, Newark’s air-traffic controllers gladly cleared a path for the plane.
“You guys are awesome,” the captain said. “And I will tell you later who said that.”
According to team sources, he was relaying a message from boisterous head coach Rex Ryan.
Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum said it was a fitting end to a perfect night. “For the Empire State Building to be lit green and white was already special,” he said. “Then for everyone involved to allow us to have a view on our way back was a great ending for our trip and something that the team will always remember.”
The route change that brought the Boeing 767 within clear view of the building required special permission to stray into La Guardia’s airspace, FAA spokesman Jim Peters said, but “no other flights were affected.”
The tower later alerted the jet as it neared the city’s tallest building.
“Taking you down the west side of the building down the Hudson,” the controller said. “Empire State Building should be at 11 o’clock.”
“It’s beautiful,” the flight captain said. “Yeah, we’ve got 200 people looking at it. A beautiful night for it, too. Really appreciate it, guys.”
Controllers then directed Continental charter flight 1915 toward Newark, where the plane landed at 10:53 p.m.
“Glad to do it,” the tower said.
Moments later, the tower said, “Clear to land for the champion New York Jets.”
Asked if they enjoyed the fly-by, the captain said, “We did, and the team did, too. It was great. I know the coach liked it.”
Such a fly-by request is not uncommon, but in this instance was particularly special for the controllers.
“It’s kind of cool,” said Ray Adams, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association at Newark. “It wasn’t a typical flight path, but it does happen,” he said.