They could have lost the plane according to the Wired article: > Once the plane landed in San Juan, the alternative—leaving the plane on the tarmac or in a han

They could have lost the plane according to the Wired article: > Once the plane landed in San Juan, the alternative—leaving the plane on the tarmac or in a hangar—would probably have destroyed the airplane ... If the plane had gotten stuck, Delta probably could have gotten the humans out safely. But it almost certainly would have lost a plane.