Wichita State University football team plane crash The Wichita State University football team plane crash refers to a 1970 plane crash . On Friday October 2 in that year , at 1 : 14 p . m . , a Martin 4 - 0 - 4 aircraft flown by Golden Eagle Aviation crashed into a mountain eight miles west of Silver Plume , Colorado . The twin - engined propliner carried 36 passengers and a crew of four ; 29 were killed at the scene and two later died of their injuries while under medical care . It was one of a two - plane flight carrying the Wichita State University football team to Logan , Utah , for a game against Utah State University ; the second aircraft flew a different route and arrived safely in Utah . Pilot error s , including poor in - flight decisions and inadequate pre - flight planning , were officially reported as leading to the crash . Events leading up to the flight . About three months prior to the crash , Wichita State contracted Golden Eagle Aviation to supply a Douglas DC - 6 B , to be used to fly the team to its away game s for the 1970 season . . The four - engined DC - 6 was a larger , more powerful aircraft that could accommodate the entire team . Golden Eagle Aviation did not own the DC - 6 , but had a separate arrangement with the Jack Richards Aircraft Company to use it . After the agreements were made the DC - 6 was damaged and was unavailable for use by the team . A pair of Martin 4 - 0 - 4s which had not flown since 1967 were re - certified for flight , and on October 2 , 1970 these were ferried from the Jack Richards Aircraft Company facilities in Oklahoma City to Wichita , instead of a DC - 6 . Initial leg . Upon arrival in Wichita , the two aircraft were loaded with luggage and the passengers were boarded . The planes took off and headed westward to a refueling stopover at Stapleton Airport in Denver ; from there the planes would continue to Logan Airport , Utah . The two aircraft were dubbed " Gold " and " Black " , after the team colors . " Gold " , the plane that would crash , carried the starting players , coaches and boosters , while " Black " transported the backup players and other support personnel . The President of Golden Eagle Aviation , Ronald G . Skipper , was the pilot flying " Gold " . He was acting in the capacity of a First Officer because he did not have a type rating on the Martin 4 - 0 - 4 . During the flight to Denver he visited with passengers in the cabin , advising them that after refueling they would take a scenic route , near the Loveland ski resort . The crew flying the other team aircraft , " Black " , would adhere to the original flight plan and take a more northerly route towards Wyoming after departing Denver , using a designated airway . This planned route allowed more time to gain altitude for the climb over the Rocky Mountains . Accident sequence . While the aircraft were being refueled and serviced , First Officer Skipper purchased aeronautical sectional chart s for the contemplated scenic route . The National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB ) investigation report stated the First Officer testified that he intended to use the charts to help point out landmarks and objects of interest to the passengers , and the report concluded the crew didn ' t allow enough time for the charts to be studied properly to avoid high terrain , before take off commenced . After take - off in clear weather , the two planes took divergent paths away from Denver . Shortly before the crash several witnesses described seeing a plane fly unusually low towards the Continental Divide . Some witnesses located on higher mountainside locations , such as Loveland Pass at 11 , 990 feet , reported seeing the plane flying below them . 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 complete a reversal turn away from the sharply rising terrain . At 1 : 14 p . m . the " Gold " aircraft struck trees on Mount Trelease 1 , 600 feet below the summit and crashed . The NTSB report stated a belief that many on board survived the initial impact , based on the testimony of survivors and rescuers . The load of fuel on board did not explode immediately , allowing survivors to escape the wreckage , but the passenger cabin would eventually be consumed by an explosion before those still alive and trapped inside could escape . The dead included 29 passengers as well as the Captain and Flight Attendant . Two of the initial eleven survivors later died of their injuries . Probable cause . The National Transportation Safety Board report states that weather played no role in the accident , and lists the probable cause to be that the pilot made improper decisions in - flight or in planning : " The intentional operation of the aircraft over a mountain valley route at an altitude from which the aircraft could neither climb over the obstructing terrain ahead , nor execute a successful course reversal . Significant factors were the overloaded condition of the aircraft , the virtual absence of flight planning for the chosen route of flight from Denver to Logan , a lack of understanding on the part of the crew of the performance capabilities and limitations of the aircraft , and the lack of operational management to monitor and appropriately control the actions of the flightcrew . " Aftermath . The game was canceled , and the Utah State football team held a memorial service at the stadium where the game was to have been played and placed a wreath on the 50 - yard line . Wichita State University officials and family of the survivors were flown to Denver on a plane made available by the Governor of Kansas . Classes were canceled for Monday , October 5 , and a memorial service was held that evening at the university stadium . The remaining Wichita team , with the NCAA and Missouri Valley Conference allowing freshman players to fill out the squad , decided to continue the 1970 season ; it was later designated the " Second Season . " Wichita and Utah State never met again . Wichita State ended varsity football after the 1986 season . Utah State is currently in the Western Athletic Conference . There have been other aircraft incidents involving American collegiate sports teams , including the Evansville basketball plane crash , a 1977 accident in Indiana where a chartered DC - 3 carrying the entire University of Evansville men ' s basketball team crashed near Evansville ' s Dress Regional Airport . A total of 29 people were killed ; including the entire team and the Head Coach Bobby Watson . A little over one month after the October 2 Wichita State accident , 75 players , coaches and staff of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team would die in the crash of Southern Airways Flight 932 near Ceredo , West Virginia . Memorials . Wichita State University built a memorial for those who had died from the crash called Memorial ' 70 . Every year on October 2 at 9 am , a wreath is placed at this memorial . A roadside memorial plaque listing the names of the victims is located near the Colorado crash site , adjacent westbound Interstate 70 , about one mile east of the Eisenhower Tunnel . Bill Cosby and Monty Hall hosted a fundraiser for the Wichita State and Marshall athletic departments after the crashes , from Wichita .