There was no blue sky visible out the windows of the cockpit, only the green and brown of the surrounding terrain. And Diane was a 20-year-old widow, a college junior with a baby on the way, alone, with big decisions to make. They urged her to wait, to get through the dark days and to reevaluate afterward. All 75 people aboard died. Rockhurst University promised to honor her scholarship. From her mother's brief marriage to Rick Stephens -- they were the only two people who knew what the other had gone through -- Valory would get a younger sister, Tori. I don't think many of the people on the plane knew what "It was at least a week before we had official confirmation that his remains had been identified," Diane says. Knapp, a 1993 Wichita State graduate who majored in communication, remembers fondly To use this feature, use a newer browser. "Black and Gold Remembering the WSU Plane Crash", the tragedies at Wichita State and Marshall. Kansas, I stayed where I was, Featherstone said. I was telling some of my friends about the projects I was doing, and they knew absolutely "You're still holding out hope through all that. When the plane entered the canyon, and the Rocky Mountains suddenly loomed near, and the pilot started banking, desperately trying to buy time, Christian looked back at Lewis. Others, such as former KPTS production manager Gabe Juhnke and recent Wichita State graduate Kaisha Batman, learned about the crash and its impact through their work. "I'm not sure my parents looked at me in the same way after watching me passed out like that. A couple flying from Florida to Georgia have been identified as two people who died in a plane crash Wednesday. So it was a little disconcerting when she began to experience shortness of breath and fatigue on the court. . Both airplanes refueled at Denver's Stapleton Airport. Colorado.. Search above to list available cemeteries. 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. ON THE MORNING of Oct. 2, 1970, 21-year-old Malory W. Kimmel drove away from Wichita State University's Jardine Hall, heading for the Field House nearby. several attempts, Renner said, Vetter told him, "Bobby, I'm burning. He writes about applied learning and covers Since then, Putt has helped family members of the victims take the difficult climb to the crash site. 2023 www.oklahoman.com. In the late 1980s a marker engraved with the victims names was built beside Interstate 70 beneath the crash site. Johnny Duren, wide receiver, John Marshall High School. Her mother, Diane, did not. Meet the NFL draft darling playing only once this fall, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Wichita State plane crash survivor takes on a mission of remembrance By Travis Heying Updated September 13, 2021 9:37 PM Rick Stephens, along with friends Kelly and Paul Harrison, set out on. Eight players and the co-pilot survived. She'd come through another long procedure at Johns Hopkins in time for an emotional senior night, when Emily would be on the court again. cathartic.". "She would get so distraught," Valory says. Ronald Skipper, copilot of the downed plane and president of Jack Richards Aircraft Company, testified that he did not know why Crocker grabbed the controls from him or why the engines began vibrating immediately before the crash. bit further. with filming and production of the 9-minute video. Maybe that's why so many haven't heard about what happened to the Wichita State University Gold Plane, which crashed into Mount Trelease 10,750 feet above sea level and burned, claiming the lives of 31 of its 40 passengers and crew. Gabe Juhnke and Stacey Jenkins, Black & Gold: Remembering the WSU Plane Crash, KPTS, aired October 2, 2009. Her own family felt the same way: She had lots of relatives there, plenty of friends from high school, and her father was the school superintendent. But Featherstone was winning a hot and heavy game of spades; he wanted to see it through. After they married in the summer of 1970, when their dog, Joe Black, ate the wedding cake moments before the reception, at last "he could move out of the dorm and we could live together," she says. I wish it had been a cathartic process for those guys, but I always felt their pain, Maybe Valory really did have a guardian angel. Ahead stood the Continental Divide, nearly 13,000 feet above sea level. The thirty-one victims of the Wichita State University plane crash in October 1970 are commemorated in this memorial near the Eisenhower Tunnel along Interstate 70. Once I came Wichita State suffers one of the greatest tragedies in college football history when one of the team's two charter flights crashes en route to its game at Utah State. Kansas, Kansas, A reception will be held on the stadium concourse, then later in the day are planned screenings of short documentaries filmed about the crash. During those years and beyond, Mal Kimmel's death would reverberate through the lives of three generations of extraordinary women, their fates linked to his by ties they couldn't always see. I heard a rumble. Wichita State players remember their 'second season' 50 years later (8:03), Three generations later, the secrets of Wichita State's devastating plane crash are still unfolding, What's going on at Colorado? A14. "I've had a pretty easy, blessed life -- up until recently.". Dehard has not added any memorials to this virtual cemetery. Emily had inherited it from her grandfather. They hadn't even told their parents yet. Mike (Bruce) and Dave Lewis and Johnny (Taylor) were already there, and Mike started When I look back at my 11 years in The Eagle, I, in a lot of ways, consider that Because he had flash burns on his Valory, who preferred cheerleading to competitive athletics, always wanted to know what Mal had been like: "Depending on what was happening in my life, it would kind of prompt a question, like, 'Did he play sports?'". A couple as the plane flew up Clear Creek Canyon. It has changed me in subtle ways, he said. ", She had visited him at WSU on weekends, driving through the night with his parents, before enrolling there herself one year later, immersing herself in a social world that revolved around football. "Mom, I'm alive -- it's a miracle," one player would say into a pay phone. Each year, she would see her mother's mood darken as Oct. 2 drew near. seen flickers of smoke and fire. Deleting this Virtual Cemetery cannot be undone. Charles O. Miller, director of the Bureau of Aviation Safety, arrived at the scene Saturday, along with FAA representatives. Some of the greatest young men/athletes that ever came out of our state, Featherstone said. Inside Houston football's lost month of September, El Paso Strong: How soccer and friendship helped a girls' team heal from a mass shooting, Who is Trey Lance? 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. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. By the time Duren graduated, he was a superstar, Featherstone said. somber site with many memorials to the victims . In early October 1970, a twin-engine aircraft carrying forty people associated with the Wichita State University football team crashed into Mt. 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. NTSB-AAR-71-4 (Washington, DC: National Transportation Safety Board, 1970). Sedgwick County, "Hes been a part of our family," said John Yeros, a former Wichita State player who was on the plane that landed safely. I recall. Lewis could have been on the list. She graduated -- and, boosted by a school stipend for family members affected by the crash, Diane got a master's from Wichita State in speech pathology, especially enjoying her work with young children. She started her work on the story as a personal matter. Duren told Featherstone there was an empty seat on the black plane. FOX31's . games and knew that team. She was given mouth-to-mouth. Then another, and --, "I guess I was clocked out for the scary part," Emily says. hearings, funerals, lawsuits and the teams game against Arkansas in Little Rock a The crash spurred the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to review and revise its regulations concerning air taxi services, and public pressure forced it to perform its inspection duties more diligently. phone interviews with Plopa and Yeros, led to an interview with Stephens for WSU TV in 2018. And then she waved goodbye. It led to one of the more unlikely games in college football history. Featherstone was on the plane that didnt crash. The stories depended on those memories and a willingness, next day at Utah State. In an annual ceremony of remembrance, a wreath is placed at Wichita State's Memorial Running back Randy Jackson would tell Stephens that in the maelstrom, he had spotted Jack Vetter, the blond offensive lineman whom Stephens had climbed over to get to the flight deck: "Randy said he tried to pull him out," Stephens recalls. Climbing into the cockpit alongside Capt. I could talk for hours about my memories, Featherstone said. He took groups by Cessna When he interviewed teammates, such as Yeros, he drew inspiration from their devotion There was a problem getting your location. of the crash were players Mike Bruce, John Hoheisel, Randy Jackson, Glenn Kostal, The two Martin 404s flying the Shockers to Utah left Wichita at 9:08 a.m.; the planes landed in Denver to refuel a little after 11, and around 12:30 p.m., each took off, engines emitting the throaty roar that had made the 404 popular with pilots in its aviation heyday. 50 years ago, WSU's football team was flying through the Dry Gulch when the plane crashed into the side of a mountain on Oct. 2, 1970. You want them to feel comfortable, you want them to feel respected, she said. was thrown forward with the impact of the crash. The "Gold" plane, a Martin 404, carried 36 passengers and a crew of four. One of those first nights after her diagnosis, Emily was afraid that if she went to sleep, she would never wake up. Others, such as former KPTS production manager Gabe Juhnke focused solely on his story and what he went through. "We stopped at McDonald's for our Christmas Eve dinner -- we joke about this -- and they forgot our sauce!". Rick Stephens, sitting toward the front, was ejected. Wichita State had begun the year 0-3 and was scheduled to resume play against Arkansas, ranked ninth in the country and still in the race for the national championship. Mal. It was such a monumental thing that happened in our A similar sense of responsibility grew within the story-tellers. There are several memorial objects, including a tombstone with the Wichita State football helmet and a few faded flags with the names of the victims. That had never happened before. Then suddenly at 9:34 a.m., terror rained from the sky. Kansas, what he remembered. I wanted to live where he grew up," she says, yearning for more time in Ste. He spoke to Bob Seaman, elevated from offensive coordinator to Twelve survivors staggered or were carried to the highway, where ambulances rushed them to Idaho Springs. of those events.. Even today, kind of makes the hair stand up on my back.". Hoheisel couldn't see because of the smoke, but was able to get out through a hole "Many young children were devastated by the loss of one or both parents.". He started waving, "and I fainted. On the night of Oct. 24, some 40,000 filled War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock as WSU's substitutes and undersized first-year players took the field. A list of the 31 people killed in the Wichita State football plane crash on Oct. 2, 1970. included a trip to the crash site, helped him understand the crash and its aftermath. Her team wore the letter "E" for Emily on their jerseys. The Second Season, they called it. Mal's parents thought she should come home to Ste. So for 50 years, hes remembered not just the names and faces, but the spirit that made those names and faces soar. And how Diane saw something she didn't expect: Mal, right there on the street corner, home from college to surprise her and to be her date for the homecoming dance. But Featherstone has a particular mission. The NTSB determined the cause of the crash to be Crocker and Skippers insufficient and improper flight planning, as well as their lack of understanding of the aircrafts abilities. When everyone in her life was twisted with grief, they looked at this 20-year-old widow and saw a future for her. Being part of a Her skin was mottled; she began to turn blue. Stadium and remembers answering questions about football. At 1:14 pm, highway workers saw the plane dip and strike the side of Mt. near Silver Plume, Colorado. killed 75 in West Virginia. Diane would recount how Mal's skills and quiet leadership at center earned him notice early on from college football recruiters. Juhnke grew up in Wichita and his parents attended Wichita State. Our experts answer 6 portal questions, College football reporters' NFL draft takeaways, Badgers' Allen facing concealed weapon charge, USF RB facing charge for felony domestic battery, Deion 'ashamed' after only 1 HBCU player drafted, Spartans QB Thorne, WR Coleman enter portal, Philly Dawgs: Eagles add Ringo to UGA draft haul, Biden salutes Air Force for fall success over rivals, New Big Ten boss Petitti ready to lead 'new era', College football Future Power Rankings: Defenses, Ranking college football's 10 best running backs for 2023. Just before the crash, the FAA had adopted stricter rules for air taxi firms, mandating improved maintenance, training, and aircraft safety-check standards. Lewis had not spoken about the crash to media members, or many people at all, before She also asked a question. A roadside memorial plaque listing the names of the victims is located near the Colorado crash site, adjacent to westbound Interstate 70. Aviation Accident Database & Synopses. I Wichita State has helped me put marketing strategy in a real-world perspective. attached to the university in a different way, I felt a different type of pride for Someone would always ask about the crash, he said. The Years drive a wedge between survivors linked The following victims of the plane crash are not included in this Virtual Cemetery as their burial locations are unknown. Mal was certain what he wanted them to do after graduation: return to their hometown of Ste. about the route just before the crash. Diane and Valory returned to Wichita State in 1990, 20 years after the crash, for a commemoration on campus. Oklahoma, The years drive a wedge between survivors linked They noticed a phone. Hell gaze in the direction of I-70, which stretches west through 420 miles of Kansas, then to Denver. At first, recalls Valory, "she was like, 'Maybe I'm just not in shape like I thought I was.' He writes about applied learning and covers The initial news coverage focused on the aftermath Federal Aviation Administration "I said to our assistants, 'Something is seriously wrong with Emily.'". The profound sadness we feel as a community After freeing Many of the 1970 Shockers have traveled to the crash site over the years, making the difficult climb to shed tears, leave mementos, offer prayers. It was a cold Saturday morning--January 16, 1965. and supporters who died in a plane crash Oct. 2, 1970. I saw those treetops being clipped A cardiac MRI showed that the right ventricle of Emily's heart had near-catastrophic scarring. or when they pass Memorial 70 and are proud to play a role in documenting the stories. Maybe he's just stunned and they haven't found him yet, she thought. Oct. 2, 1970. remember what happened.. "Just make sure I'm under this tree," he told her. The scenery stopped in the canyon of Mount Trelease, above where the Eisenhower Tunnel was being constructed around I-70, 60 miles west of Denver. He wrote about survivors such as Stephens, John Hoheisel and Randy Jackson.
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