NTSB: Michigan team flight executed ‘rejected takeoff’

The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report on the Michigan basketball team plane incident at Willow Run Airport says the flight executed a “rejected takeoff.”

“On March 8, 2017, about 2:52 p.m. eastern standard time (EST), Ameristar Air Cargo Inc. flight 9363, a Boeing MD-83, N786TW, ran off the end of runway 23L after executing a rejected takeoff at Willow Run Airport (YIP), Ypsilanti, Michigan,” the report reads.

The report says wind speeds at the time of the incident were 35 knots (about 40 mph) with gusts of 50 knots (about 56 mph).

The plane was bound for Washington Dulles International Airport, taking the Michigan basketball team to the Big Ten tournament, but instead slid off the runway before coming to a stop.

All 109 passengers and seven crew members were evacuated safely, the report says. “One person was reported to have received a minor injury,” the report says.

That person is presumed to be Michigan guard Derrick Walton Jr., who was cut on his right leg and received five stitches.