 Wreckage of the aircraft | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 14, 1970 (1970-11-14) |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due topilot error |
| Site | NearTri-State Airport,Huntington, West Virginia, US 38°22′27″N82°34′42″W / 38.37417°N 82.57833°W /38.37417; -82.57833 |
 | |
| Aircraft | |
.jpg) ASouthern AirwaysDouglas DC-9-31, similar to the one involved in the accident | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-9-31 |
| Operator | Southern Airways |
| IATA flight No. | SO932 |
| ICAO flight No. | SOU932 |
| Call sign | SOUTHERN 932 |
| Registration | N97S |
| Flight origin | Kinston Regional Jetport,Kinston, North Carolina |
| 1st stopover | Tri-State Airport,Huntington, West Virginia |
| 2nd stopover | Hopkinsville-Christian County Airport,Hopkinsville, Kentucky |
| Last stopover | Alexandria International Airport,Alexandria, Louisiana |
| Destination | Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport,Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Occupants | 75 |
| Passengers | 71 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 75 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Southern Airways Flight 932 was acharteredSouthern AirwaysDouglas DC-9 domestic United States commercial jet flight fromStallings Field (ISO) inKinston, North Carolina, toHuntington Tri-State Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field (HTS) nearKenova andCeredo, West Virginia. At 7:36 pm on November 14, 1970, the aircraft crashed into a hill just short of the Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 people on board – 37 members of theMarshall University football team, 5 coaches, 7 staff members, 21boosters, 2 pilots, 2 flight attendants, and a charter coordinator.[1][2] The team was returning home after a 17–14 loss to theEast Carolina Pirates atFicklen Stadium inGreenville, North Carolina.[3] The accident is the deadliest tragedy for any sports team in US history.[4][5][6]
It was the second college football team plane crash in a little over a month, after theOctober 2 crash that killed 31 – head coachBen Wilson, 14Wichita State players, and 16 others.
The aircraft was a 95-seat, twin-jet engine Douglas DC-9-30 with tail registration N97S. The airliner's crew was Captain Frank Abbott (47), First Officer Jerry Smith (28), plus two flight attendants. All were qualified for the flight. This was the only flight that year for the Marshall University football team.[6]
At the time, Marshall's athletic teams rarely traveled by plane, since most away games were within easy driving distance of the campus. In light of the crash of the Wichita State football team just over a month earlier, school officials originally planned to cancel the flight. Instead, they opted to fly on a different plane than the one which crashed in Colorado (a Martin 4–0–4), and chartered the Southern Airways DC-9.[7] The original proposal to charter the flight was refused because it would exceed the takeoff limitations of their aircraft. The subsequent negotiations resulted in a reduction of the weight of passengers and baggage and the charter flight was scheduled.[8] The airliner left Stallings Field at Kinston, North Carolina, and the flight proceeded toHuntington without incident. The crew established radio contact with air traffic controllers at 7:23 pm with instructions to descend to 5,000 ft (1,500 m).[3]
The controllers advised the crew that "rain, fog, smoke and a raggedceiling" were at the airport, making landing more difficult, but possible. At 7:34 pm, the airliner's crew reported passing Tri-State Airport'souter marker. The controller gave them clearance to land. The aircraft began its normal descent after passing the outer marker, but did not arrest its descent and hold altitude at 1,240 ft (380 m), as required by the assigned instrument approach procedure. Instead, the descent continued for another 300 ft (91 m) for unknown reasons, apparently without either crew member actually seeing the airport lights or runway. In the transcript of their cockpit communications in the final minutes, the pilots briefly debated that their autopilot had captured theglide slope, although the airport was not equipped with a glide slope. The report also noted that the aircraft approached theCatlettsburg Refinery in the final 30 seconds before impact, which "could have ... affected ... a visual illusion produced by the difference in the elevation of the refinery and the airport," which was nearly 300 ft (91 m) higher than the refinery, with hills in between. The co-pilot, monitoring thealtimeter, called out, "It's beginning to lighten up a little bit on the ground here at ... seven hundred feet ... We're two hundred above [approach minimums]," and the charter coordinator, present in the cockpit, replied, "Bet it'll be a missed approach." The flight data recorder shows that the aircraft descended another 220 ft (67 m) within 12 seconds, and the co-pilot calls out "four hundred" and agrees with the pilot they are on the correct approach. In the next second, though, the co-pilot quickly calls out "hundred and twenty-six ... hundred", and the sounds of impact immediately follow.[8]
The airliner collided with the tops of trees on a hillside 5,543 ft (1,690 m) short of runway 11 (now runway 12).[6][8] The plane burst into flames and created a swath of charred ground 95 ft (29 m) wide and 279 ft (85 m) long. According to the officialNational Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report, the accident was "unsurvivable". The aircraft "dipped to the right, almost inverted, and had crashed into a hollow 'nose-first' ".[3] By the time the plane came to a stop, it was 4,219 ft (1,286 m) short of the runway and 275 ft (84 m) south of the middle marker. Although the airport runway has since been lengthened past its original threshold, making historical measurements more difficult, the NTSB official report provides, "the accident occurred during hours of darkness at 38° 22' 27" N. latitude and 82° 34' 42" W. longitude." The report additionally notes, "Most of the fuselage was melted or reduced to a powder-like substance; however, several large pieces were scattered throughout the burned area."[8] The remains of six passengers were never identified.[3]
The NTSB investigated the accident and its final report was issued on April 14, 1972. In the report, the NTSB concluded, "the probable cause of this accident was the descent below Minimum Descent Altitude during a nonprecision approach under adverse operating conditions, without visual contact with the runway environment." They further stated, "The Board has been unable to determine the reason for this [greater] descent, although the two most likely explanations are (a) improper use of cockpit instrumentation data, or (b) an altimetry system error."[8]: 36 At least one source says that water that had seeped into the plane's altimeter could have thrown off its height readings, leading the pilots to believe the plane was higher than was actually the case.[9]
The board made three recommendations as a result of this accident, including recommendations for heads-up displays,ground proximity warning devices, and surveillance and inspection of flight operations.[8]: 37
On November 15, 1970, a memorial service was held at the indoor, 8,500-seatVeterans Memorial Fieldhouse with moments of silence, remembrances, and prayers.[3] The following Saturday, another memorial service was held at the outdoor, 18,000-seatFairfield Stadium. Classes at Marshall, along with numerous events and shows by the Marshall Artists Series (and the football team's game against theOhio Bobcats), were cancelled and government offices were closed. A mass funeral was held at the field house and many of the dead were buried at theSpring Hill Cemetery, some together because bodies were not identifiable.[3][10]
The effects of the crash on Huntington went far beyond the Marshall campus. Because it was the Herd's only charter flight of the season, boosters and prominent citizens were on the plane, including a city councilman, a state legislator, and four physicians. Seventy children had at least one parent die in the crash, with 18 of them left orphaned.[11]
OnSt. Patrick's Day, 1971, College of Wooster football coachJack Lengyel was introduced as Marshall's new head coach.[12] Lengyel said he immediately felt a connection to Marshall when he heard about the crash.[13] In the following weeks, Lengyel's effort to rebuild the team was aided by receivers' coachRed Dawson.[14] Dawson was a coach from the previous staff who had driven back from the East Carolina game along with Gail Parker, a freshman coach. Parker flew to the game, but did not fly back, having switched places withDeke Brackett, another coach. Dawson and Parker were buying boiled peanuts at a country store in ruralVirginia when they heard the news over the radio. Before the trip, they were scheduled to go on a recruiting mission toFerrum College after the ECU–Marshall game, in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to recruit junior college linebackerBilly Joe Mantooth. After the crash, Red Dawson helped bring together a group of players who were on the junior varsity football team during the 1970 season, as well as students and athletes from other sports, to form a 1971 football team.[15]
TheNCAA granted Marshall permission to use freshmen on the varsity squad, something which was not normally allowed at the time (the NCAA repealed that prohibition at its annual convention in January 1972). Following its plane crash, Wichita State was granted similar permission to use freshmen on the varsity to resume its 1970 season.
Head coachRick Tolley was among the crash victims.[15] Marshall approached Penn State assistant Bob Phillips first about the position but he declined.Dick Bestwick, an assistant atGeorgia Tech, was approached and accepted the position on February 28 before backing out days later to return back to Tech.[16] Lengyel was hired to take Tolley's place on March 11, 1971. Lengyel, who came from a coaching job at theCollege of Wooster, was hired by the recently hired athletic directorJoe McMullen, under whom he had previously worked at theUniversity of Akron in the 1950s.[17][18]
The Marshall University football team won only two games during the 1971 season, againstXavier andBowling Green.[15] Lengyel coached the Thundering Herd to a 9–33 record during his tenure, which ended after the 1974 season.[19]
Marshall University acting PresidentDonald Dedmon appointed a memorial committee soon after the crash.[20] The committee decided upon one major memorial within the campus, a plaque and memorial garden at Fairfield Stadium, and a granitecenotaph at the Spring Hill Cemetery; the newMemorial Student Center was named as a memorial as well.[21]
On November 12, 1972, theMarshall University Memorial Fountain was dedicated at the entrance of the Memorial Student Center.[20] The sculpture's designer,Harry Bertoia, created the $25,000 memorial using bronze, copper tubing, and welding rods. The 6,500 lb, 13 ft-high (2,900 kg, 4 m-high) sculpture was completed within a year and a half. A plaque was placed on the base on August 10, 1973,[20] listing the names of all 75 victims and concluding:
They shall live on in the hearts of their families and friends forever, and
this memorial records their loss to the university and to the community.[1]
Every year, on the anniversary of the crash, the fountain is shut during a commemorative ceremony and not activated again until the following spring.[22] A number of the victims are buried in a grave site in the Spring Hill Cemetery in Huntington. Between the cemetery and Marshall'sJoan C. Edwards Stadium, 20th Street was renamed Marshall Memorial Boulevard in honor of the crash victims.[23]
On November 11, 2000, the"We Are Marshall" Memorial Bronze was dedicated. The $150,000 bronze 17×23 ft (5×7 m) statue was created by artist Burl Jones ofSissonville, West Virginia, based upon ideas by John and Ann Krieger of Huntington. It was funded by Marshall fans and is attached to Joan C. Edwards Stadium on the west façade. It was unveiled to thousands, 90 minutes before the game with theMiami University RedHawks.[24]
On December 11, 2006, a memorial plaque was dedicated at the plane crash site.[25] The ceremony featured Dawson and Hardin as guest speakers. The Ceredo andKenova fire departments were recognized at the event.[26]
The memorial plaque reads (with inaccurate numbers):
On Nov. 14, 1970, 75 people died in the worst sports related air tragedy in U.S. history, when a Southern Airways DC-9 crashed into the hillside nearby. The victims included 36 Marshall University football players, 9 coaches and administrators, 25 fans and air crew of 5. No one survived this horrific disaster.[5]
Another plaque memorializing the 1970 Marshall football team was unveiled at East Carolina University on the same day and can be seen at the guest team entrance ofDowdy–Ficklen Stadium. Featured speakers were Chancellor Steve Ballard, Athletic DirectorTerry Holland, Pirates' broadcaster Jeff Charles, and Marshall presidentStephen J. Kopp.
A memorial bell tower was planned for a location onWV 75 near exit 1 alongInterstate 64.[25]
November 14, 2013, marked the first time that Marshall played a road game on an anniversary of the disaster. As a memorial to the 75 victims, the Marshall players wore the number 75 on their helmets. Marshall defeated theTulsa Golden Hurricane 45–34 that night.[27] The tribute was repeated for the rest of the season, including when Marshall metRice in the2013 Conference USA Football Championship Game.[28]
Marshall was scheduled to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the air disaster in their football season opener on August 29, 2020. The opponent was scheduled to be East Carolina, the same team that defeated Marshall before the disaster took place. The anniversary game did not occur due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[29]
During halftime of the 2023 East Carolina–Marshall game, the 1970 ECU Pirates team presented a signed memorial football to Red Dawson and Keith Morehouse, son of Marshall announcer Gene Morehouse, who was killed in the crash.
The events of the crash are documented in an episode ofAircrash Confidential titled "Disastrous Descents".[31]
Identifying the bodies was an almost impossible task because the explosion tore them apart and the fire burned them to bits. Six victims never were identified, and today their bodies are buried in adjoining graves next to a monument at Spring Hill Cemetery, which overlooks Marshall's campus.
Lengyel met with athletic director Joe McMullen and accepted the job on March 11, 1971.
Lengyel began his football coaching career at his alma mater, the University of Akron, in 1959 under Joe McMullen.
After four years and a 9–33 overall record, Lengyel left Marshall and went into business.
The Memorial Fountain was dedicated by President John G. Barker on Nov. 12, 1972, to the memory of the plane crash victims. Each year a memorial service is held on the anniversary of the tragedy. The ceremony includes the traditional laying of a wreath and the fountain's water is turned off until the following spring.
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