The plane carrying the Auburn men’s basketball team to Saturday’s game vs. Houston turned around after takeoff and returned to the airport Friday afternoon when activity on the plane prompted the pilot to abandon the flight plan, sources told CBS Sports. No. 11 Auburn is scheduled to play against No. 4 Houston in a highly anticipated matchup on Saturday night at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Publicly accessible flight data reveals the plane didn’t leave Alabama’s airspace before turning around. On Friday night, a report from the Fox TV affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama, stated Air Traffic Control’s contact with the plane included an on-flight message to ATC that “a bunch of basketball players” were “fighting,” prompting the plane to return to Auburn’s airport.
It’s not known which players were involved and the intensity of the altercation that caused the pilot to make the decision to return the plane back to Auburn University Regional Airport. When reached for comment, an Auburn spokesperson told CBS Sports the school is planning to release a statement on Friday night.
Power-conference programs almost always travel on private planes these days, and that was the case with Auburn on Friday. The plan, one source said, was for the team to take off again on Friday night. Whether or not that includes everyone on Auburn’s roster is unclear at this point in time. The planned practice for Friday night at the Toyota Center was canceled as a result, though.
This story will update as soon as the school provides more information on the incident.
