How the Yankees ended up sleeping at Dulles International Airport

KANSAS CITY — It was, indeed, the perfect storm.

At around 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, the Yankees were on the runway aboard their team charter plane at rainy Dulles Airport in Virginia, about to take off for Kansas City.

Everything seemed fine.

But engine trouble prevented them from getting to their destination on that plane.

So the team switched planes.

But because of federal regulations put in place to mitigate fatigue, the pilots ultimately had to clock out before takeoff attempt No. 2 — leaving the Yankees and their traveling party of 60 or so stuck in the D.C. area.

Last season, the Bombers barely got out of Chicago following their six-hour, five-minute and 18-inning marathon against the Cubs, taking off at 3:08 a.m. CT — 14 minutes before their pilots would’ve been out of time.

There were no hotels to accommodate such a massive party within a 90-mile radius given all the happenings in the area. So they had no choice but to rough it at the airport, so to speak.

The Yankees, of course, had checked out of their hotels Wednesday before heading to Nationals Park with their luggage in tow, as per usual on a getaway day.

The Bombers and Nationals played six innings on Tuesday night before that game was suspended and postponed until Wednesday at 5:05 p.m. — before the 7:05 p.m. two-game series finale — due to thunderstorms.

Related: See recent severe weather:

But those games were also postponed due to rain Wednesday, leaving the Bombers to wait around a bit before departing for the airport. Both teams had a mutual off-day Thursday, but those same hotel issues — as well as a Nationals charity event at the ballpark later that evening — meant the games would be made up on June 18.

It has been quite a spring so far — featuring a rare snowout in their home-opener on April 2. That game, a win over Tampa, was postponed and made up the following day. In fact, when the Yankees were rained out over the weekend in Detroit, April 14-15, their flight back to New York was delayed on the runway for a couple hours amid heavy showers.

Most players opted to spend the night Wednesday in a private lounge for luxury travelers, with no one else around at 1 a.m. ET. Others slept aboard the charter — with the AC turned on — the same type of thing they’d do when flying to New York after a game on the West Coast.

By Thursday morning, rested as much as possible and well-fed, it was wheels up — with takeoff by different pilots at around 9:30 a.m. ET and hotel arrival in Kansas City around 12 p.m. CT.

Fortunately, it was an off-day, meaning sleep and more sleep was in order.

The weather for Saturday night’s game against the Royals is also iffy — with a chance of thunderstorms.

Because of course it is.