INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler University men's basketball team made it home safe Friday evening after their plane had to make an emergency landing late Thursday.
Passengers said the plane lost cabin pressure during their flight to Indianapolis from New York and the plane dropped 20,000 feet in a matter of minutes.
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
"The lights went out. The oxygen masks came down with the exception of the two on our two seats, so we had to slide over," said Coach Chris Holtmann.
Holtmann said the plane had a rapid descent that led many players to text their families stating they may never see them again.
"We had one teammate who was really emotional. We had another teammate as he had his mask on, kind of grabbing and holding him by the shoulder in the midst of that - that speaks to that young man," said Holtmann.
The plane made an emergency landing in Pittsburgh where the team spent the night and took a charter bus home to Indianapolis on Friday.
Officials at Butler University Athletics said a different plane would not have been available for the team until Friday afternoon, and the bus option was selected because it would get the team back to Indianapolis quicker.
A plane was not available until later in the afternoon. Bus option was selected to get team back to Indy in more timely fashion.
— Butler Basketball (@ButlerMBB) December 30, 2016
The team made it back to campus just before 8 p.m. Friday.
"It's good to be here. It's good for our guys to see smiles on their faces as we pulled in. They were excited about this and pretty anxious to get on the bus instead of the plane," said Holtmann.
