The worst thing to happen to the Butler men’s basketball team (11-2) Thursday night wasn’t a loss at St. John’s, a .500 team, 76-73.
It was their charter flight from New York to Indianapolis, which was diverted to Pittsburgh.
They rented hotel rooms and spent the night, and are scheduled to bus home to Indy Friday afternoon. A different plane would not have been available until late Friday, and so taking a bus will get them home sooner.
Our plane experienced some cabin pressure issues this evening. We were diverted and have landed safely in Pittsburgh. All is well.
— Butler Basketball (@ButlerMBB) December 30, 2016
And you can be sure many of those with the traveling party prefer this option. One member described last night’s flight as “absolutely terrifying.”
Head coach Chris Holtmann to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman:
“It started to get really cold, and the plane went completely dark,” Holtmann said. “Then all the oxygen masks came flying down, and the flight attendant told everyone to put the masks on. She kept repeating it.
“We had a really rapid descent. In the span of 10 or 12 minutes, we went from 35,000 feet to 10,000 feet.
“I was shook. It was scary. We had guys crying.”
Butler hosts 10-4 Providence at 3:00 pm on Sunday.