A flight carrying the Auburn Tigers men’s basketball team was reportedly diverted after an altercation between players on the plane.
The plane was headed to Houston when it made an emergency landing 40 minutes later in Auburn, Ala. after a physical altercation between two team members on the flight Friday, Nov. 8, according to multiple media outlets, including ESPN, WBRC and the Associated Press.
The pilot made a call requesting an emergency landing shortly after takeoff after 3:00 p.m., according to local news outlet WBRC, which also cited FlightAware data showing the plane diverted minutes after 3:00 p.m.
The pilot told air traffic control, according to an audio recording obtained by the news outlet, “We’ve got a bunch of basketball players fighting.”
Auburn Tigers game in February.
Michael Chang/Getty
Auburn player Brian Battie ‘still on ventilator’ after Florida shooting, coach says
“The wattle deck is safe,” the pilot continued. “The threat level is limited at the moment, we’ve just had – we’re going to have the police on the pitch, and we’ve had two players who got physical, clothes were torn.”
The plane returned to Auburn where it landed forty minutes later, WBRC reported.
The pilot later described the incident on board to air traffic control as “crazy,” according to the source. Audio of the call obtained by WBRC has not been shared for legal reasons.
The Auburn Police Department later confirmed it responded to a “declared aircraft emergency” Friday at Auburn University Regional Airport, per The New York Times.
Representatives for the Auburn Tigers, Auburn University Regional Airport and the Auburn Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. It was not immediately clear from the report which airline the team was traveling on.
The Auburn Tigers headed to Houston ahead of their game against the Houston Cougars at the Toyota Center on Saturday, November 9th. In the game, the Tigers beat the Cougars 74-69, according to ESPN.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(1068x401:1070x403)/auburn-alabama-basketball-11924-db2e140d316140abaa847eddbbf30dff.jpg)
The Auburn Tigers logo on a basketball during their game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in March.
Michael Chang/Getty
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
ESPN cited sources who confirmed the flight had to be grounded shortly after takeoff due to what the paper described as a “fight” between two basketball players, which did not escalate and ended quickly, according to media sources. .
Field of 68 host Jeff Goodman wrote in a post on X on the evening of Nov. 8 that the plane carrying the team “returned home due to an altercation between players on the flight that could have escalated into a fight,” citing a source.
He added in part in the post that the team was “about 45 minutes on the road and had to get home.”
ESPN reported that the team left on a different flight later on Nov. 8, citing sources.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education