NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Two-time All-Pro safety Kevin Byard will talk about most any topic when asked. Being asked to take a pay cut going into his eighth NFL season by the Tennessee Titans is very different.
Only minutes into a doomed journey, the pilot of a business jet wasn’t responding to air traffic control instructions and federal aviation officials say the situation was soon reported to a network that includes military, security and law enforcement agencies. Despite being out of contact on its ascent Sunday, the jet that took off in Tennessee continued toward Long Island, then turned back toward Virginia, where it slammed into a mountain, killing four people. Family and friends identified two victims as an entrepreneur known in New York real-estate circles and her 2-year-old daughter. The plane's erratic flight path directly over the nation’s capital prompted the military to scramble fighter jets, causing a sonic boom heard in Washington, Maryland and Virginia.
More details are emerging about four people killed when a private jet crashed in Virginia after causing a scare over Washington. The victims aboard the Cessna Citation included a caretaker from Jamaica known for her generous portions of plantain porridge. Another was a luxury real estate broker, returning from a family visit with her 2-year-old daughter. The man behind the controls of the plane was a skilled aviator with decades of experience. All four died Sunday after the jet lost contact with air traffic controllers on a planned flight to New York. Military jets scrambled to intercept the flight.
The Southeastern Conference will play eight league games in 2024 when it expands to 16 teams with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas, but beyond that the schedule model is to be determined. Commissioner Greg Sankey says the conference’s presidents voted to implement a short-term solution to a scheduling conundrum that has been debated for more than a year. The SEC has been holding its spring meetings on the Florida Gulf Coast this week. Conference leaders have been trying to decide between a nine-game conference schedule that would include three annual rivalry games and an eight-game model with one annual rivalry game.
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte says the Longhorns prefer playing a nine-game league schedule when they join the Southeastern Conference in 2024. That might have to wait. The SEC remained undecided on increasing the number of conference games it plays from eight to nine, with some athletic directors saying they would like more time and information. Commissioner Greg Sankey says that among the options being discussed is a short-term agreement to stay at eight, with a commitment to reconsider the model in the next year or so.