HESSTON—Gary King played the role of a victim for a while after the Wichita State University plane crash that claimed his parents on Oct. 2, 1970. 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. One of the few survivors of a 1970 plane crash that killed 31 people from Wichita State University, including members of the school's football team, is planning to ride his bicycle from Wichita to the Colorado crash site to honor those who perished. The 1970 Wichita State football plane crash was one of the worst in Colorado aviation history. Gary, 16, and his older sister, Mary Lynne, had to grow up in a hurry. The Martin 404 plane was enroute to Logan, Utah for a game with Utah State University. It happened a month after a plane carrying the Wichita State football team crashed in Colorado, killing 31 people, including 14 players. ... Every year, on the anniversary of the crash, he and other survivors gather at Wichita State to remember and honor the lives lost. On Oct. 2%2C 1970%2C a plane crash took the lives of 31 people%2C inlcuding 14 Wichita State football players; Senior guard Rick Stephens was one of the nine survivors and he recalled the crash A whirlpool of noise followed. Wichita Plane Crash Victims passed away. One of the planes proceeded to Utah via southern Wyoming, avoiding Colorado’s high mountain wall. ... site of the Marshall Memorial for the 75 plane crash victims. The four-engined DC-6 was a larger, more powerful aircraft that could accommodate the entire team. The 1970 Wichita State football plane crash was one of the worst in Colorado aviation history. The dead included Wichita State football coach Ben Wilson and his wife and A.C. "Bert" Katzenmeyers, athletic director, and his wife. Mallory Kimmel, WSU football player. About three months prior to the crash, Wichita State contracted Golden Eagle Aviation to supply a Douglas DC-6B, to be used to fly the team to its away games for the 1970 season.. The 1970 Wichita State football plane crash was one of the worst in Colorado aviation history. A marker on I-70 near the Eisenhower Tunnel is close to the crash site in Colorado. Both airplanes refueled at Denver’s Stapleton Airport. Randy Phillips joined the Wichita State University football team in 1971, a year after the plane crash that killed 14 players and 17 other people. On Nov. 28, 1970, Levitt Arena hosted “A Night of Stars” benefit for the victims of the Wichita State and Marshall University plane crashes. Mary Owen places a yellow rose in a vase in memory of Wichita State plane crash victom Thomas Owen during a ceremony to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the crash in Colorado that killed 31. Wichita State players remember their 'second season' 50 years later (8:03) Wichita State was devastated by a tragic plane crash 50 years ago. Th… Newspaper clippings, including The Sunflower, Wichita State News, and Midway, regarding the plane crash, the memorial, and follow-up stories on the victim’s families. The obituary was featured in Legacy on October 30, 2014. Carl Fahrbach, Wichita State’s first dean of admissions, was one of 31 players, coaches, university officials and boosters killed in the 1970 crash in the Colorado mountains. Photo from Sarah Stephens Selmon 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. Paul and Kelly’s cousin Martin was a team equipment manager who died in the crash. The little-known memorial stands as a tribute to the 31 people who lost their lives when a plane carrying the Wichita State football team crashed while traveling to a game at Utah State … ABC televised the event with Monty Hall as host. They were bound for Logan, Utah, to play the Utah State University Aggies the following day. Airplane Crash Victims Listed SILVER PLUME, Colo. (UPI) -- Victims in Friday's Wichita State football team plane crash: Fatalities: 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. Ben and Helen Wilson, WSU head coach and his wife. WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – On October 2nd, 1970, a plane carrying nearly half of Wichita State’s football team, including coach Ben Wilson and administrators crashed en … Photo by Travis Heying, Wichita Eagle. The 1970 Wichita State football plane crash was one of the worst in Colorado aviation history. But according to the NTSB, the accident could have easily been prevented if … The names of the 31 victims were read during a ceremony at Cessna Stadium, and a new addition was unveiled to the Memorial 70 sculpture on the WSU campus. When Ahlberg received that list, he released the names of the 40 persons aboard the stricken airplane. Pilot errors, including poor in-flight decisions and inadequate pre-flight planning, were officially reported as leading to the crash. Raymond and Yvonne King left behind seven children, ranging in ages from 18 to 4. Bruce recalls his teammates admiring the construction activity near the Eisenhower Tunnel before the plane made a rapid plunge. The Shockers … It's been 40 years since the gold plane crashed into the Colorado Rockies. 49 years later: WSU survivors remember deadly plane crash. Judy Lane, flight attendant. Middle guard Ed Carter was back in Wichita Falls, Texas, that terrible day to bury his father. The charred wreckage of N464M lies on a Colorado mountainside some hours after the crash. Wichita Eagle and Beacon - Crash 1970. Wichita State graduate Gabe Juhnke (top, with camera) co-produced a documentary on the 1970 football plane crash for KPTS in 2009. (John Putt) On the 2nd of October 1970, a chartered airliner carrying the Wichita State University football team took a detour to give the young players a close-up view of the Rocky Mountains. It is a stone marker with the names of the eight people who survived the crash. Rick Stephens, one of the players who survived the crash, is biking from Kansas to Colorado along with two other survivors, Paul and Kelly Harrison, whose cousin Marty Harrison died … On 2 October 1970, a twin-engine plane carrying Wichita State University football players, staff and supporters crashed near Loveland Pass enroute to a game in Utah. 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