NTSB: Pilot of UM Basketball Flight Avoided Disaster by Aborting Takeoff in 2017

The University of Michigan basketball team was involved in a plane crash on its way to the Big Ten tournament back in 2017, but if not for the captain's last-second decision to abort the takeoff, the outcome could have been tragically different.

"These two pilots did everything right after things started to go very wrong," National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt said Thursday, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN).

The team plane crashed through a chain-link fence at Willow Run Airport on March 8, 2017, as the Wolverines were on their way to Washington, D.C., for the conference tournament. While the plane was damaged in the accident, none of the 110 passengers or six crew members suffered any serious injuries. One passenger did suffer minor injuries, though.

Per the AP, the pilots initially came under fire for choosing to remain grounded even after reaching a critical speed that would cause the vehicle to overshoot the runway. However, the NTSB's recent report backed the pilot's decision.

Captain Mark Radloff told investigators that there was a heavy feeling to the plane as he prepared for takeoff. As it turns out, the investigation discovered a mechanical problem with the plane:

"The NTSB said the plane was properly maintained, but components in an elevator—a part that pilots adjust to change the pitch or nose direction—jammed because the plane was parked outside a hangar for two days during windy weather."

"With a different pilot on this airplane, there might have been people hurt or even killed," Ameristar Vice president Stacy Muth, per the AP. "All we lost was the airplane."

John Beilein and Co. were able to take a different plane to the nation's capital, where the eighth-seeded Wolverines would win four games in four days to capture the Big Ten tournament crown.