King Airs are certified to fly in all types of weather and are usually equipped with rubber de-icing boots along the leading edges of the wings. These inflate and deflate periodically to break away potentially dangerous ice that can form on wings. Officials said Saturday night that it was too early to determine what led to the crash. It sounded like a shrill noise. Then I saw a big fireball.
Federal regulations require most charter planes to be equipped with cockpit voice recorders.
It was unclear Saturday whether the plane that crashed was covered by those regulations. The Oklahoma State team had been in Colorado for a Big 12 conference matchup. The team's next game is scheduled for Tuesday night at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Dr. Halligan said that he and his wife, Anne, and other university officials had met with members of the basketball team and other athletic department personnel. He said counseling was being made available to OSU players, and the university was helping all the players contact their parents.