UConn finally lands in Phoenix for the Final Four after travel nightmare saw the defending national champions delayed over SEVEN HOURS and arriving around 3:15am local time

Another year, another travel nightmare for the Connecticut Huskies after the team’s plane to the Final Four landed several hours late following a series of unfortunate events leading up to its arrival in Phoenix.

The Huskies were scheduled to take off from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, around 6:00 p.m. ET.

But as coach Dan Hurley said CBS Sports’ Matt NorlanderHis plane, which was supposed to arrive from Kansas City, suffered mechanical problems and significant delays.

That initially planned charter flight also would not have been able to take off until 10:00 a.m. ET, due to FAA restrictions on flight crew.

So, after some fighting, the Huskies were able to get a last-minute charter flight from Allegiant Airlines to take off from Cincinnati and land in Connecticut late Wednesday night.

UConn coach Dan Hurley puts his head in his hands, captured by his wife Andrea Hurley.

The team finally landed at 3:12 PT (6:12 ET), more than 12 hours after they were supposed to take off.

With the Huskies on board and ready to take off, further disaster struck when their new plane suffered more mechanical problems as bad weather hit across the state, causing even more delays.

Morale on the plane dropped, and Hurley’s wife, Andrea, snapped a photo of the coach with his head in his hands.

Fortunately, according to the NCAA, the onboard mechanic was able to fix the problem and the plane took off from Windsor Locks at 1:33 a.m. local time.

The Huskies encountered no further problems in their flight and landed at 3:12 a.m. Pacific Time, or 6:12 a.m. Eastern Time, more than 12 hours after they were supposed to have taken off.

The NCAA, which organizes travel for Final Four teams, attributed the travel debacle to “an unfortunate set of circumstances.” To accommodate the delay, they delayed Hurley’s media availability and canceled an open media availability in the locker room after Thursday’s practice.

Last season, the Huskies had their bags stolen and arrived in dirty hotel rooms for their Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups in Las Vegas.

They still managed to overcome that by winning a national championship in Houston.