Robert Kraft lets Virginia football team use Patriots plane to attend funerals

Steven Napolillo on Twitter

The Patriots weren’t using their team plane this past weekend after playing the Vikings in Minnesota on Thanksgiving, so Robert Kraft put it to good use.

The Patriots donated the use of their plane to the University of Virginia football team so members could attend three funerals in three states. Football players Devin Chandler, D’Sean Perry, and Lavel Davis Jr. were shot and killed Nov. 13 on a charter bus while returning from a class trip.

Perry’s funeral was Saturday in Miami, Chandler’s was Sunday in Virginia Beach, and Davis will have a celebration of life Wednesday in North Charleston, S.C.

The entire team wanted to attend the services but didn’t have the funds or the means. Patriots spokesman Stacey James confirmed Kraft donated the plane and paid for the flights. The Patriots plane was sighted in Charlottesville, Va., by a freelance journalist Saturday morning.

Just saw New England’s plane at CHO. They leant it for UVa to use to get players to the three funerals. What an amazing gesture #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/8FrMh77BS3

— Brandon Lloyd (@blloyd8298) November 25, 2022

Kraft has used the Patriots’ “Air Kraft” for several charitable and humanitarian efforts in the past. Among them: Bringing medical equipment to Haiti, taking Parkland survivors to the March For Our Lives rally, returning US troops from the Horn of Africa, and providing transportation for Providence basketball for March Madness and Rhode Island football for a big game in Baltimore.