VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, MI - The air traffic control tower at Willow Run Airport was evacuated due to high winds when a plane carrying the University of Michigan basketball team, staff and band members aborted its takeoff.
The charter jet went off a runway, through an airport security fence, across a service road and crashed into a field. Some of the 109 people aboard the aircraft sustained minor injuries.
Elizabeth Isham Cory, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the Willow Run control tower was evacuated due to high winds and air traffic control at the airport was transferred to Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
She said that flights take-off and land at airports without control towers all the time and there are no regulations that link takeoff and landing with a tower.
"The pilot was in contact with Detroit approach control, which handles the airspace above that airport all the time," Cory said in an email.
Cory said sending air traffic control - which reports wind conditions to the planes - to Detroit Metropolitan Airport is standard procedure in these situations.
"This also happens when the tower is closed at night or for other staffing, which is normal procedure," Cory said. "Detroit approach handles that airspace 24/7, and today, pilots are talking to Detroit within seconds of take-off because that facility handles the airspace above Willow Run."
The pilot and the airline use whatever information is given as they see fit, with the pilot as the ultimate authority on the decision to fly, she said.
The incident, which occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, at the airport in Van Buren Township, remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The Michigan basketball team released a statement that, "After attempting to take off in high winds, takeoff was aborted and, after strong braking, the plane slide [sic] off runway."
"The plane sustained extensive damage but everyone on board was safely evacuated and is safe," the statement said.
NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss was unable to provide further details.
Much of southeast Michigan suffered power outages Wednesday as high winds knocked down trees and power lines. The Willow Run Airport may have suffered one as well.
Stacy Muth, vice president of operations for Ameristar Jet Charter Inc., which operates the MD83 involved in the incident, said the plane's flight was delayed by about 13 minutes because a power outage in part of the airport delayed the process for getting necessary paperwork to the crew.
Muth said the cause of the slide-off is unknown.
"The pilot and crew have said they did exactly what they were trained to do," Muth said.
She said the company was grateful no one was seriously injured and Michigan was still able to win its basketball game Thursday.
Alex Manion, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said records show the service's Automated Weather Observing System at Willow Run Airport stopped receiving data due to a power outage about noon Wednesday and did not receive it again until after 8 p.m. that evening.
It was not immediately clear if another weather observation system exists at the airport, but Cory said there are many redundancies to assure backups their system.
Cory referred further specifics on the matter to the NTSB.
Detroit Metro Airport saw peak wind gusts at 68 mph. Ypsilanti, specifically the Willow Run Airport, saw peak wind gust at 63 mph, and Ann Arbor saw peak wind gusts at 62 mph, all between 10 a.m. and noon Wednesday, Manion said.
At 2:53 p.m. Wednesday, Ann Arbor recorded gusts of 53 mph and Detroit Metro Airport recorded gusts up to 51 mph, he said. That is about the time when the aircraft carrying the team attempted takeoff.
The plane on Thursday remained in the field where it came to rest. Officials were at the scene working to assess exactly what happened.