A similar sense of responsibility grew within the story-tellers. Some of them had their clothes burned off and were hurt and were just running like deer. The plane had sheared a swath through the trees 50 yards wide and 100 yards long, some 300 yards north of the interstate. And there was another reason. debris. "Tell me in 60 years" is what Diane said to Mal that day on his family's property in Ste. And she did exactly what she needed to do." Then another, and --, "I guess I was clocked out for the scary part," Emily says. Sports editor for The Sunflower, Sean Marty, observes the 1970 Wichita State plane crash site on Sunday, Sept. 27 near Silver Plume, Colorado. A system error has occurred. Genevieve. Charles O. Miller, director of the Bureau of Aviation Safety, arrived at the scene Saturday, along with FAA representatives. He was a good guy. We do so to remember and honor our friends and to renew our relationships with each other, Featherstone said. It was it was really touching.". Its been 50 years since the Shockers flew out for Logan, Utah, and a game against Utah State. quiet. She interviewed Stephens about a week before the 2018 anniversary of the crash. Genevieve, where she'd spend holidays playing with her cousins. We always thought the 50th would be the biggest reunion, Featherstone said. Illinois, National Transportation Safety Board, Aircraft Accident Report: Martin 404, N464M 8 Statute Miles West of Silver Plume, Colorado, October 2, 1970, Report no. I found By that time, she'd found out something about ARVC: It's inherited. It was such a humbling and heart-felt experience. a call from Jim Rhatigan, the former Wichita State senior vice president. I heard a rumble. And Diane was a 20-year-old widow, a college junior with a baby on the way, alone, with big decisions to make. Golden Eagle was near the top of the re-inspection list at the time of the disaster. Almost every day, Dave Lewis walks out onto his back deck, gingerly, because his left leg remains a medical textbook, after six surgeries and four total knee replacements. The slow speed resulted in eleven passengers surviving the crash, but twenty-nine died on impact and another two succumbed to wounds afterward. "She would get so distraught," Valory says. before, said Batman, who teaches video production at Dodge City High School. McMillen, L. (1990, September 30). While working at a hospital there, she met a young surgeon named Chris Edwards. Ronald Skipper, copilot of the downed plane and president of Jack Richards Aircraft Company, testified that he did not know why Crocker grabbed the controls from him or why the engines began vibrating immediately before the crash. (Linda Renner Wilson) and others. Paul and Kelly's cousin Martin was a team equipment manager who died in the crash. All 85 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft died . Lewis, wearing only a necktie and still in shock, tried to scoot down on his butt. National Honor Society member.. There were rays of light coming in through the cuts in the fuselage. She answered the phone, and her son explained what had happened. away. This account has been disabled. A reception will be held on the stadium concourse, then later in the day are planned screenings of short documentaries filmed about the crash. Nineteen-year-old Valory was describing her undergraduate studies at Missouri State to vice president of student affairs James J. Rhatigan when he floored her with an unexpected offer: Would she like to attend nursing school at WSU, all expenses paid? The Wichita Eagle, pp. All rights reserved. The Wichita State University (WSU) community gathered Saturday to remember victims of a 1970 plane crash that killed 31 people, including WSU football players and staff members. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) immediately appointed four investigative teams headed by experts from Washington, DC, to study the wrecked aircraft, its operations and maintenance, and any human factors. Funding for the memorial . Some of the greatest young men/athletes that ever came out of our state, Featherstone said. I think theres a real misconception that thats the day we lost football. Mal. It was the Wichita lineman's last secret. The NTSB determined the cause of the crash to be Crocker and Skippers insufficient and improper flight planning, as well as their lack of understanding of the aircrafts abilities. Public hearings began October 21 to determine the cause of the tragedy. They piled up in the front, trapping the seat-belted passengers as fire began to engulf the downed plane. A list of the 31 people killed in the Wichita State football plane crash on Oct. 2, 1970. next day at Utah State. reviewed Wichita State Plane Wreck. by tragedy. We have set your language to The WSU Shockers football squad hoped to win its first game of the season at Utah after losing its first three. Today, a memorial below the crash site on Interstate 70 commemorates the tragedy, and the FAA has gone on to pass stricter regulations with each passing year. I got up behind the cockpit area and I could hear some concerned conversation between Oklahoma, He writes about applied learning and covers group. "There was not a dry eye in the gym," Diane says. They noticed a phone. It led to one of the more unlikely games in college football history. To most questions, he replied I dont recall. Eventually, it was determined that the plane was carrying more weight than it could handle and that the engines lacked sufficient power for a quick gain of altitude. A memorial at 18th and Hillside, near the entrance of Wichita State University, honors those who died and survived a plane crash carrying the team WSU football team, management, donors and the . "I'm like, 'OK, Dad, if there's anything you can do about this, figure it out for me.'" State and went to Marshall University (in West Virginia) as part of the Kansas State Paul Suellentrop joined Wichita State University Strategic Communications in 2017after Meet the NFL draft darling playing only once this fall, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Please try again later. he said. The crash spurred the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to review and revise its regulations concerning air taxi services, and public pressure forced it to perform its inspection duties more diligently. Because it took place 50 years ago. hitting the trees. Gabe Juhnke and Stacey Jenkins, Black & Gold: Remembering the WSU Plane Crash, KPTS, aired October 2, 2009. She wanted to more about the events and how they affected her He spoke to Bob Seaman, elevated from offensive coordinator to 2023 www.oklahoman.com. really had to, essentially, trust myself. "She had the 'it' factor," says Jennifer Perryman, coach of the high school varsity team at Nixa. Batman, a 2020 graduate who majored in communication, started her work on the plane (1995, October 3). "So me and my dad had to head home Christmas Eve," Emily says. Mal was certain what he wanted them to do after graduation: return to their hometown of Ste. Rhatigan, one of the survivors. The profound sadness we feel as a community help him down. In Springfield, Missouri, she was set to undergo a battery of tests, but after her EKG, doctors there wouldn't even let her get on the treadmill. She wasn't done. 200 | Wichita, KS 67202 | (316) 978-6789. The passengers enjoyed the aerial view of the changing autumn leaves, with the village of Georgetown gleaming below. Climbing over Jack Vetter, the blond offensive lineman in the aisle seat, Stephens decided to visit the flight deck, as he'd done on earlier trips, and chat with the pilots. "I feel like he looks out for us," Valory says. I honor their memory every day, Lewis said. Mike Bruce, a crash survivor, and John Straka, who was on the plane that landed safely, laid a wreath on the 50-yard. And he'd slip up every now and then," she recalls, "and say something very touching. So instead of quitting school, Diane had Valory and returned to WSU, with one of her sisters helping her out with the baby. "Just make sure I'm under this tree," he told her. with your teammates. to the media, always with the goal of honoring their teammates. All the girls loved him. Please reset your password. reporter for KMUW. 31 out of the 40 people on board were killed. in the back of the fuselage. It kind of made me feel like I was part of the family Wichita State dropped its football program in 1986, largely due to for a rare look into the memories of Seaman and his family. Weve updated the security on the site. They were bound for Logan, Utah, to play the Utah State University Aggies the following day. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Survivors such as Its just kind of forgotten about. Valory, who preferred cheerleading to competitive athletics, always wanted to know what Mal had been like: "Depending on what was happening in my life, it would kind of prompt a question, like, 'Did he play sports?'". of questions, while being ready to take the conversation in other directions. Lewis and teammate Glenn Kostal were placed in a miners shack so they could lay down. out through a hole near the front of the aircraft before it exploded. Wichita State athleticsthrough his GoShockers.com blog. Mike Kennedy remembers when the paper bearing the Associated Press bulletin came over Because just six weeks later, a Southern Airways DC-9 carrying Marshall University's football team never made it to the runway during its final descent, killing all 75 passengers and crew on board and forming the basis for the 2006 feature film "We Are Marshall," starring Matthew McConaughey. that perished, said Bruce Haertl, a former sports anchor at KWCH-TV in Wichita. The Southwest Daily Times. He wants his home state to remember the four victims from Oklahoma. "We thought it was important today that while he was here that we recognize him for the things hes done for us over the years. Beckman, who earned a masters degree in communications from Wichita State in 2015, bit further. Wichita State players remember their 'second season' 50 years later (8:03), Three generations later, the secrets of Wichita State's devastating plane crash are still unfolding, What's going on at Colorado? The Pieces That Remain: Remembering the Wichita State Plane Crash, Randy Kiesau and his parents memories of their son, to interview the family of crash victim Mal Kimmel. I was certainly highly motivated to do my best work, writing about a subject like Since then, Putt has helped family members of the victims take the difficult climb to the crash site. Below on the interstate, California tourists Mr. and Mrs. George Gruenwald saw the plane lumbering up the box canyon very low and very slow. In the cabin Skipper suggested to Crocker that they should turn back toward Denver, and he began to steer some forty-five degrees right. Knapp, as a student, gave tours for the admissions department. You cannot fly into those places without thinking So Lewis called his mother at work back in Duncan. The annual ceremony of remembrance for those who died in the 1970 Wichita State University plane crash will be held at 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at Cessna Stadium. Emily was heartbroken. First one breath nothing. He was thrown onto a pile of mangled mess. . The second craft headed straight west out of Denver toward the mountains. what the university has gone through. I think it helped that I was That research paper, including Danny Crocker just 15 minutes before takeoff, Skipper had topographical maps he'd purchased moments earlier at a shop in Stapleton Airport so that he could point out landmarks of interest along the way. Steve Moore, one of the victims of the crash. Her mother, Diane, did not. USA, Derby, Colorado.. Stephens County, USA, McPherson, the pilots. Each year, she would see her mother's mood darken as Oct. 2 drew near. Wichita State crash still echoes 1970 accident killed A1, A2. Yet within the week, freshman recruits who'd stayed behind in Kansas, second-stringers who'd landed safely in Utah on the Black Plane, even a few on the mountainside who had somehow escaped with their lives, had voted to continue on with Wichita State's football season. There is a problem with your email/password. The sense of loss never really changed from within them. Many The answer: "14,000 [feet]. Sedgwick County, "I have relived that crash so often," Diane says. He loved his horse, Star. It was both a wry prophecy and a tribute to her late father, whom she seemed to favor. he ended up about 40 yards away from the aircraft. Paul and Kelly Harrison help plane crash survivor Rick Stephens hike up the steep Rocky Mountain grade to the site of the Wichita State University football team plane crash Stephens survived 50 years ago. Photo by Travis Heying via Paul Harrison It was spring 1967, the era of the Vietnam War and the draft, and there weren't a lot of kids from Ste. The audience will be seated on the west side of the stadium. You can always change this later in your Account settings. Although suffering from several head injuries, Copilot Skipper dragged survivors further away from the burning aircraft. You want them to feel comfortable, you want them to feel respected, she said. The great memories and friendships you develop To get plenty of manpower to Utah, WSU chartered two planes and crews from Oklahoma City-based Golden Eagle Aviation Company, with each plane holding some forty people. In mid-December, while shooting around at the gym, Emily fainted and spent a night in the ICU. crash for an Elliott School of Communication class. Our experts answer 6 portal questions, College football reporters' NFL draft takeaways, Badgers' Allen facing concealed weapon charge, USF RB facing charge for felony domestic battery, Deion 'ashamed' after only 1 HBCU player drafted, Spartans QB Thorne, WR Coleman enter portal, Philly Dawgs: Eagles add Ringo to UGA draft haul, Biden salutes Air Force for fall success over rivals, New Big Ten boss Petitti ready to lead 'new era', College football Future Power Rankings: Defenses, Ranking college football's 10 best running backs for 2023. When the door opened to their floor, she staggered out, breathing heavily, before collapsing onto the carpet. Inside Houston football's lost month of September, El Paso Strong: How soccer and friendship helped a girls' team heal from a mass shooting, Who is Trey Lance? Stephens says he heard Crocker ask Skipper how high the mountain ahead of them was. When Featherstone left John Marshall, Duren was a runt on the B team. USA, Henry, They are still greatly missed to this day, Featherstone said. They know that at some point, the memorials and memories will burn only in their souls. With Rick, we Lewis was sitting in the back of the plane, having migrated there in hopes he might entice a flight attendant to sit by him. But Featherstone has a particular mission. Her buzzer-beater off the glass drove the crowd into a frenzy. Once there, the senior parked his car and joined his WSU teammates as they piled onto buses for a ride to the local airport, where two small prop planes were waiting to fly the Shockers to Logan, Utah, for their game the next day against Utah State. 2 min read. 1 (1998). Bob Renner was recorded to have been in the wreckage the longest. There was no blue sky visible out the windows of the cockpit, only the green and brown of the surrounding terrain. They are still greatly missed to this day. Maybe that's why so many haven't heard about what happened to the Wichita State University Gold Plane, which crashed into Mount Trelease 10,750 feet above sea level and burned, claiming the lives of 31 of its 40 passengers and crew. who served as dean of students at the time of the crash, complimented Knapp on a story Of the 40. several attempts, Renner said, Vetter told him, "Bobby, I'm burning. After they parted, she began climbing the three or four flights of stairs that led to the office where she had worked 30 hours a week as a secretary since coming to school: the WSU psychology department. Some of them, such as Kennedy and former Wichita Eagle columnist Bob Lutz, lived through I could talk for hours about my memories, Featherstone said. Kansas, ", Moments later, Stephens was facing the back of the cabin, trying to return to his seat, when the plane banked sharply to the right and then to the left. How do you get through this?". The interview with Stephens reinforced the need to prepare with research and a list After graduating with a degree in nursing from WSU, Valory would work for a year in Wichita before eventually moving to Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas, That morning in 1970 -- Mal Kimmel's last morning -- Diane got to the top floor and took one more glance through the staircase's windows, out to the bright, clear day that was beginning to blossom. years and I didnt want that to be lost, for the Wichita State community.. On the night of Oct. 24, some 40,000 filled War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock as WSU's substitutes and undersized first-year players took the field. Wichita State athleticsthrough his GoShockers.com blog,The Roundhouse. We started dividing up assignments. The great memories and friendships you develop with your teammates. By Tim Bryant. There was a very real part of them that felt it was something that they owed those so many other (stories) as a way to remember it and let these people know that it The NTSB aviation accident database contains information from 1962 and later about civil aviation accidents and selected incidents within the United States, its territories and possessions, and in international waters. USA, Clinton, I didnt know whether it was in the top or what, but I think I climbed out of the plane. Several of his teammates also crawled out through the hole blasted in the side of the airplane. Rick Stephens, then a 22-year old offensive guard, had gone forward in the plane to ask the pilots Some of them, such as Kennedy and former Wichita Eagle columnist Bob Lutz, lived through the crash and its aftermath. Sedgwick County, The first lawsuit was filed five days after the crash. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. The planes sudden bank to the left, and then immediately to the right, decreased its velocity to the point of a stall. He wrote about survivors such as Stephens, John Hoheisel and Randy Jackson. Kansas, USA, Ann Arbor, Featherstone, a retired Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent, was Lewis teammate with those 1970 Wheatshockers. Grading big trades during the NFL draft: Who won the D'Andre Swift deal? And he'd be laid to rest in McPherson, Kansas, where his headstone reads: TO HIM DEATH CAME NO CONQUEROR. Dickinson County, Valory would also hear about Diane's senior year in high school, the day she was riding in the homecoming parade through Ste. Some have died. Deleting this Virtual Cemetery cannot be undone. that and getting to know quite a few of the families of those who did not survive Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. Featherstones family eventually moved into the country, and he spent his final two seasons of high school at Edmond Memorial. or when they pass Memorial 70 and are proud to play a role in documenting the stories. One of those first nights after her diagnosis, Emily was afraid that if she went to sleep, she would never wake up. She looked north, down to the street below and there he was. But Crocker seized the controls and began a left turn. From the moment he found out that he was going to be a father, Mal was like a man on fire with Diane -- staying up late, coming up with names, trying to figure out money, school, all of it. Custer County, Upon closer inspection, the breadth of the carnage will become apparent. On Oct. 2, 1970, Wichita State sent its football team in two planes to a game at Utah State. The mangled wings smoldered, and unidentifiable chunks of metal, along with football helmets and pads, lay scattered across the mountainside. Fifty years later, looking back on her days working in the psychology office, Diane Buatte would say, "That job probably saved my life.". to realization that we had stopped, there was a kind of surrealness about the situation. Lewis seat belt was off. "I've had a pretty easy, blessed life -- up until recently.". of trees had fallen in. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. arms, he thinks he was burned aboard the plane upon impact and that he probably crawled Arkansas, feeling sorrow. The Piatt memorial commemorates the tragedy which occurred January 16, 1965, when a KC-135 Tanker plane crashed into the Piatt neighborhood, killing the air crew and many innocent civilians. 27 cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list. The players helped each other stumble away from the wreckage, then collapsed some twenty feet away. She started her work on the story as a personal matter. Diane Thomas Kimmel had known Mal since junior high, dated him all through high school in Ste. "Black and Gold Remembering the WSU Plane Crash", the tragedies at Wichita State and Marshall. I remember some of the first people in Wichita to know about it. On Saturday, Nov. 14, 1970, a plane carrying members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team and coaching staff crashed in West Virginia killing all 75 people on board and. Both airplanes refueled at Denver's Stapleton Airport. The university on Friday unveiledtwo additions to the structure: one that lists the eight players who survived the crash, the other with the names of the 35 passengers on the second flight that landed safely. about the route just before the crash. One of them, Emily Edwards, would have the same gap in her front teeth that Mal did. Genevieve, written him letters and walked to the post office to pick up his return letters, because she couldn't bear to wait for them to be delivered. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. working for 17 years at The Wichita Eagle. Bethel, exploding twice on the slope. Tunnel before the plane made a rapid plunge. That was stripped away.. Somehow, Lewis leg was so badly damaged, his foot was hanging sideways. Valory opened the door of the condo just as Emily lost consciousness. USA, Plot info: Addition 1, Block 27, Lot 9, Space 5. of those events.. Ronald Skipper were the only two survivors in the front of the plane. All 75 people aboard died. We had friends we were losing in Vietnam, but nobody expected a bunch of guys to go play a Saturday afternoon football game not arriving.. you never met.. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. I remember walking home from school and being distraught "It is a haunting experience to go up there," Stephens says. Her team wore the letter "E" for Emily on their jerseys. She started the reporting for a class project and later expanded her work ", What struck Valory was how her mother "knew him for so long -- even when he was young. NTSB-AAR-71-4 (Washington, DC: National Transportation Safety Board, 1970). Diane never forgot, and when he died, the family got the county to build a road to the site. Diane and Valory returned to Wichita State in 1990, 20 years after the crash, for a commemoration on campus. "Let me finish puking," Diane would say, "and then we'll talk about that stuff.". It was determined that significant responsibility lay with the FAA for failing to follow on its warnings issued to schools, including WSU, against using Golden Eagles services. Together with Rhatigan, they had the training to help her through her confusion and fear, the resources to sustain her. In 1977 WSU was found liable for not carrying adequate insurance on the passengers. Haertl, as part of television duties for Wichita State basketball, took many road The crash killed 31 passengers, including 14 players. Could have been on Rusty Featherstones list. about was the crash.. Crash On Friday, October 2, 1970, a pair of Martin 404 twin-engine aircraft took off from Wichita, Kansas, carrying the Wichita State University (WSU) football team, coaches, and VIP supporters. PublishedOctober 2, 2020 at 12:33 PM CDT, Korva Coleman Diversity in Journalism Internship, Addition To Wichita State Memorial Honors Survivors Of 1970 Plane Crash, KMUW 89.1 FM | 121 N. Mead, Ste.
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