On March 27, Republican Michigan state representative Matthew Maddock posted two photos of buses lined up in front of an airplane at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. In his post, which has been viewed millions of times, he implied that migrants were getting off the plane and loading onto the buses.
“Happening right now. Three buses just loaded up with illegal invaders at Detroit Metro,” Maddock said. “Anyone have any idea where they’re headed with their police escort?”
THE QUESTION
Do photos in a viral post show buses transporting migrants at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport?
THE SOURCES
Photos and videos of the Gonzaga men’s basketball team flying to Detroit on an Allegiant aircraft on March 27
Archive of arrivals to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on March 27
Spokesperson for the Wayne County Airport Authority
THE ANSWER
No, photos in a viral post do not show buses transporting migrants at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. The photos show the arrival of Gonzaga and other NCAA men’s basketball teams ahead of their appearance in the Sweet 16.
WHAT WE FOUND
The viral post shows the arrival of the Gonzaga men’s basketball team at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport ahead of their appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
Michigan state Rep. Matthew Maddock posted the two photos at 8:20 p.m. ET on March 27, 2024. He said the events in the photos were “happening right now” at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.
One photo is of three charter buses lined up at the airport, and the other is of a mostly obscured aircraft that appears to have Allegiant Air’s livery. The sun is setting in the photo, which would suggest it was taken right around 7:53 p.m. ET, which is when the sun set in Detroit on March 27.
Flight logs show that only one Allegiant Air flight landed at Detroit Metro that evening: a flight from Spokane, Washington, that arrived at 7:45 p.m. ET.
Photos and videos posted to the Gonzaga men’s basketball team’s X account show that the team took an Allegiant flight to Detroit on March 27. Gonzaga University is located in Spokane, and its men’s basketball team is scheduled to play in Detroit on March 29 for the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
Flight radars show no Allegiant aircraft except the one from Spokane immediately in or around the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport shortly before sunset on March 27, 2024.
There are normally no direct flights between Detroit Metro and Spokane, regardless of airline.
A Wayne County Airport Authority spokesperson confirmed the other photo in Maddock’s posts shows the buses that transported Gonzaga and the other three teams competing in the tournament from the airport.
“The four men’s basketball teams competing in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 at Little Caesars Arena arrived at DTW Wednesday evening,” the Wayne County Airport Authority spokesperson told VERIFY sister station KREM. “The buses seen in a photograph circulating online were transporting the basketball teams and their respective staffs.”
VERIFY reached out to Allegiant Air to confirm that the aircraft in the photo was carrying the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, but has not yet heard back from the airline.
The three other teams scheduled to play in Detroit on March 29 — University of Tennessee, Creighton University and Purdue University — also posted photos and videos of their flights on March 27. Flight radar shows all three teams landed at Detroit Metro in the evening hours, similar to the arrival time of Gonzaga’s team.
Joshua Lyle contributed to this story’s reporting.
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