David Moyes and his Sunderland squad were forced to make an emergency landing at Manchester airport after their France-bound Eastern Airways flight suffered a technical fault.
The flight had to be diverted towards Manchester due to a fault in its engine after taking off from Newcastle.
The Black Cats soon managed to board a replacement plane to their three-game French tour which starts against FC Stade Nyonnais on Monday.
A spokeswoman for Manchester Airport said: "After the technical failure, the plane landed safely and all passengers disembarked as safety checks were made."