A chartered plane was forced to turn back Friday after a fight broke out between two players on the Auburn University men's basketball team. CBS Sports reported,
Meregrass Flight 681 took off from Auburn University Regional Airport at 2:40 p.m. Friday, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. The flight returned to the airport at about 3:30 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
According to FlightAware, the flight did not leave Alabama airspace. The Auburn Tigers were traveling to William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas. The team is set to face off against the University of Houston Cougars on Saturday night.
The FAA said the flight crew had “reported a passenger disturbance”, but provided no other details.
In audio obtained by CBS News, the plane's pilot can be heard telling air traffic controllers that the two players had a “physical altercation” and “clothes were torn.”
Freshman forward Jahki Howard and senior forward Ja'Haem Hudson were involved in the incident, sources told CBS Sports.
Stu Milne/Getty Images
According to CBS Sports, both players were blocked from boarding another flight that departed the airport on Friday night. Both players will not play in Saturday's much-awaited match. Auburn University told CBS Sports it would release a statement, but had not done so at the time of publication.
According to him, 19-year-old Howard was the 2024 Kings Hawaiian National Slam Dunk Champion Biography,
Stu Milne/Getty Images
According to them, the 22-year-old Hudson played two seasons at the University of Georgia and one season at Southern Methodist University before transferring to Auburn University for his senior year. Biography,
Neither player is a starter, but both played in Wednesday's season-opening game against the University of Vermont Catamounts, CBS Sports said.