Everyone is safe after a plane carrying the University of Michigan basketball team crashed while trying to take off from Willow Run Airport on Wednesday afternoon.
The plane was trying to take off to deliver the men's basketball team to the Big Ten tournament in Washington D.C., but high winds caused problems, causing the takeoff to be aborted, U-M spokesman Tom Wywrot said in a brief emails to reporters.
"After attempting to take off in high winds, takeoff was aborted and, after strong braking, the plane slide off runway. The plane sustained extensive damage but everyone on board was safely evacuated and is safe. The team is making alternate travel plans."
Richard Myrick of Farmington Hills, Mich., said he received a telephone call from his daughter, Erica Myrick, a University of Michigan cheerleader, who informed him of the plane crash and said that she and everyone else was OK.
"They were on their way to D.C. at Willow Run, and apparently, right after the pilot brought the wheels of the plane off the ground, the wheels came back down and they crashed through a number of gates," Richard Myrick said.
"There were no injuries reported, according to my daughter. They are actually loading up on a bus to head to D.C."
