Audio between pilot, Air Traffic Control reveals new details on Auburn basketball altercation

New audio showed details of an altercation that occurred during the Auburn men’s basketball team’s flight to its game at Houston. The pilot told Air Traffic Control about an apparent fight that took place on board.

Details have been scarce about the incident, which occurred as the Tigers were flying out of Auburn for Saturday’s game. Data from FlightAware shows the plane took off at 2:50 p.m. CT before returning at 3:30 p.m. CT. Although the pilot said there were “a bunch of basketball players fighting,” The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reported no punches were thrown. AuburnLive’s Justin Hokanson had more details on the situation, as well.

According to the FlightAware audio, the pilots said two players were involved in an “altercation,” and clothes were ripped. The flight later turned around and headed back to Auburn. A new flight took off later Friday night, Hokanson reported.

You can’t make this stuff up. The pilot audio is both bizarre and hilarious on the now infamous team flight from Auburn to Houston. pic.twitter.com/qacIQ8KZPI

— Michael Southern (@msouthern17) November 9, 2024

“We’ve got a bunch of basketball players fighting. … The flight deck is secure, threat level is contained for the moment,” the pilot said. “We’ll have police on the ground. We have two players that got into a physical altercation. Clothes were ripped.”

Auburn and Houston are scheduled to square off Saturday at 9:30 p.m. ET. The game is on as scheduled, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported Friday night.

Auburn is coming off a resounding victory in its first game of the season, cruising past Vermont 94-43 at Neville Arena. Five Tigers reached double figures – led by 21 points from Miles Kelly – as they shot 56.3% as a group, including a 16-for-35 showing from three-point distance. On defense, Auburn held Vermont to just 15-of-58 overall and 5-of-23 from downtown.

Despite the strong showing, Bruce Pearl didn’t want fans to overreact to a 51-point win. He said Auburn simply got hot and played well, and it wasn’t much more than that.

“We’re not celebrating this,” Pearl said. “Don’t read into it too much other than we shot it really well and played pretty hard.”

Despite starting the year against Vermont – which ranks 103rd in the KenPom rankings – Auburn’s schedule won’t get easier. In addition to Houston this weekend, the Tigers will also have to face Duke, Iowa State, Ohio State and Purdue before SEC play begins once the calendar flips to 2025.