The Michigan women's basketball team had a tough time getting home after losing in overtime to Kansas State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The team was scheduled to play in Los Angeles on Saturday and return to Michigan on a chartered flight that night, along with the school's band and cheerleaders. It didn't go as planned.
The Wolverines arrived at the airport and sat outside for nearly three hours waiting for the second pilot.
“Due to Saturday's nationwide weather delays and a nationwide crew shortage, the charter airline has decided to replace the captain with a crew member on a return flight from Texas to Michigan,” NCAA spokeswoman Megan Durham Wright told The Associated Press. “We had to transport it to the United States,” he told The Associated Press.
The Michigan travel group finally began going through security to board the plane at 8:30 p.m. PDT, and boarded the plane an hour later. After sitting in the plane for 75 minutes, the team realized that the plane could not take off because the pilot had exceeded his allotted flight time for the day.
“The airline has informed NCAA staff that the officers and crew are willing to extend their return to Michigan.” “We believed we could still leave in the evening,” Durham Wright said. “But eventually, after the captain arrived and the team boarded the plane, he noted fatigue and decided not to extend it any further. Safety is paramount.”
To make matters worse, the bus that took the team to the airport has left, which is against NCAA rules. As a result, the team was forced to take a rideshare vehicle back to the hotel.
Staff waited 45 minutes for the bus to return to transport the team's luggage.
Players shared their plight on social media.
The Wolverines returned to the airport Sunday morning and, after an hour-long delay, were finally on their way home. They returned to Michigan at 7pm EDT without incident.
“We regret any inconvenience caused to the University of Michigan program and apologize for their experience of not meeting NCAA expectations,” Durham Wright said in a statement.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
