Wichita State University football team plane crash
On Friday, October 2, 1970 at 1:14 p.m. MDT in Colorado a chartered Martin 4-0-4 airliner crashed into a mountain eight miles (13 km) west of Silver Plume.[1][2][3][4] It happened in clear weather. The twin-engined propliner carried 37 passengers and a crew of three; 29 were killed at the scene and two later died of their injuries while under medical care.[5] It was operated by Golden Eagle Aviation.
 A Martin 4-0-4, circa 1981, in Florida Airlines livery. | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | October 2, 1970 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error |
| Site | Clear Creek County, Colorado 8 miles (13 km) west of Silver Plume, near the Loveland Ski Area 39°41′36″N 105°52′57″W / 39.69333°N 105.88250°W |
| Aircraft type | Martin 4-0-4 |
| Operator | Golden Eagle Aviation |
| Registration | N464M, ex-N460A |
| Flight origin | Wichita Mid-Continent Airport |
| Stopover | Stapleton International Airport |
| Destination | Logan-Cache Airport |
| Passengers | 37 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 31 |
| Survivors | 9 |
It was one of two aircraft carrying the Wichita State University football team to Logan, Utah. They were going to Utah for a game against Utah State University.[6] The other plane flew a normal route and arrived safely in Utah. Pilot errors, including bad in-flight choices and bad pre-flight planning, were officially reported as what caused the crash.[7]
References
change- ↑ "13 gridders die in air crash". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. October 3, 1970. p. 1.
- ↑ "29 killed in Colorado air tragedy". The Bulletin. Bend, Oregon. UPI. October 3, 1970. p. 1.
- ↑ "Air tragedy in the Rockies". Rocky Mountain News. October 3, 1970. p. 1. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
- ↑ Sanchez, Robert (October 2010). "The Crash". 5280 Magazine. Archived from the original on December 25, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
- ↑ "Memorial '70 at Wichita State". Archived from the original on 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
- ↑ Mondout, Patrick (2005), Air Crash In Rockies Kills Wichita State Football Players, Super70s.com, Retrieved 2009-09-10
- ↑ NTSB Aircraft Accident Report, SA-421, File No. 3-1127 Archived October 9, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
Other websites
change- NTSB Aircraft Accident Report, SA-421, File No. 3-1127 (alternate link 1, alternate link 2)
- Memorial '70 Homepage Archived 2015-01-29 at the Wayback Machine – includes survivor recollections, photos of victims
- Super70s article about the crash – includes narrative on circumstances leading up to the flight, and lists names of those on board
- Roadside memorial adjacent to I-70 near Colorado crash site
- Present-day photos of crash site on Mount Trelease – includes directions for visiting the site, and GPS coordinates
- 1960s photo of the accident aircraft in Mohawk Airlines livery Archived 2011-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
- Wichita State University Football Team Airplane Crash Collection – archives related to crash
