Wichita State University football team plane crash

In clear and calm weather in Colorado at 1:14 p.m. MDT on Friday, October 2, 1970, a chartered Martin 4-0-4 airliner crashed into a mountain eight miles (13 km) west of Silver Plume. Operated by Golden Eagle Aviation Inc., the twin-engine propliner carried 37 passengers and a crew of three, of whom 29 were killed at the scene and two later died of their injuries while under medical care.

It was one of two aircraft carrying the 1970 Wichita State Shockers football team to Logan, Utah for a game against Utah State. The second aircraft flew a conventional route and arrived safely in Utah. Pilot error, including inadvisable in-flight decisions and inadequate preflight planning, was identified as the probable cause of the crash.

Background

About three months before the crash, Wichita State University contracted with Golden Eagle Aviation to supply a Douglas DC-6B to fly the team to away games for the 1970 season. The four-engined DC-6 was a large, powerful aircraft that could accommodate the entire team. Golden Eagle Aviation did not own the DC-6, but had an arrangement with the Jack Richards Aircraft Company to use it. After the agreements were made, the DC-6 was damaged in a windstorm, rendering it unavailable for use. A pair of Martin 4-0-4s, neither of which had flown since 1967, were recertified for flight. On October 2, 1970, these planes were ferried from the Jack Richards facilities in Oklahoma City to Wichita in place of the DC-6.

Accident sequence

While the aircraft was refueled and serviced in Denver, Skipper purchased aeronautical sectional charts for the planned scenic route. In his testimony before the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Skipper asserted that he had intended to use the charts to identify landmarks and objects of interest to the passengers. The NTSB's report concluded that the crew did not allow enough time for the charts to be studied properly to avoid high terrain before takeoff commenced. After takeoff in clear weather, the two aircraft took divergent paths away from Denver.

Shortly before the crash, several witnesses described seeing an aircraft flying unusually low toward the Continental Divide. Some witnesses located on higher mountainside locations, such as Loveland Pass at 11990 ft, reported seeing it flying below them. Crash survivor Rick Stephens was a senior guard and stated in 2013, "...as we flew along over I-70, that there were old mines and old vehicles above us. I noticed we were quite a bit below the top of the mountains. I got up to go to the cockpit, which wasn't unusual to do, and I could tell we were in trouble, looking out the window and seeing nothing but green in front of us."

The overloaded aircraft, nearing Loveland Pass as it flew up Clear Creek Valley, became trapped in a box canyon and was unable to climb above the mountain ridges surrounding it on three sides, nor could it complete a reversal turn away from the sharply rising terrain. At 1:14 p.m. MDT, the "Gold" aircraft struck trees on the east slope of Mount Trelease, 1600 ft below its summit, and crashed. The NTSB report indicated that many people survived the initial impact, based on the testimony of survivors and rescuers. The plane's fuel did not explode immediately, allowing survivors to escape the wreckage, but the passenger cabin was eventually consumed by an explosion before those still alive and trapped inside could escape.

Of the 40 people on board, 29 died at the scene, including 27 passengers, the captain and the flight attendant. One of the victims was an off-duty flight attendant who was assisting the crew. Two of the initial 11 survivors later died of their injuries to bring the total dead to 31, 14 of whom were Wichita State football players. First to arrive at the crash scene were construction workers from the nearby Eisenhower Tunnel project and motorists on U.S. Route 6 (I-70). Skipper, who was flying the plane from the left seat, survived.