This flight was the only flight that year for the Marshall University football team. Classes at Marshall, along with numerous events and shows by the Marshall Artists Series (and the football team's game against the Ohio Bobcats), were cancelled and government offices were closed. 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 in what has been recognized as "the worst sports-related air tragedy in U.S. history". [15], Marshall University President John G. Barker and Vice President Donald Dedmon appointed a Memorial Committee soon after the crash. Bulldozers plow through wreckage of the DC9 chartered jet that crashed in Kenova, W.V., Nov. 15, 1970. [21] The ceremony featured guest speakers William "Red" Dawson and Jack Hardin. 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. The fountain is dedicated to the memory of 75 people killed in a Nov. 14, 1970, plane crash. The Ceredo and Kenova fire departments were recognized at the event. A mass funeral was held at the Field House and many of the dead were buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery, some together because bodies were not identifiable. That included 37 Marshall football players, 25 team boosters, multiple coaches and team doctors, and Marshall’s athletic director. [7]:37, On November 15, 1970, a memorial service was held at the indoor, 8,500-seat Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse with moments of silence, remembrances, and prayers. The inspiring story even made it to the big screen in 2006. On November 12, 1972, the Memorial Fountain was dedicated at the entrance of the Memorial Student Center. On Nov. 14, 1970, Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed during its approach to Huntington, West Virginia. The event marked a boundary by which an entire community would forever measure time… before or after “The Crash”. Bulldozers plow through wreckage of the DC9 chartered jet that crashed in Kenova, W.V., Nov. 15, 1970. [4] The following Saturday, another memorial service was held at the outdoor, 18,000-seat Fairfield Stadium. Among the losses were nearly the entire Marshall University football team, coaches, flight crew, numerous fans, and supporters. Marshall wore special black uniforms and the No. MARSHALL PLANE CRASH:In 1971, Bergen County native helped Marshall heal “My brother Teddy wore 44,” Tom Shoebridge said. After suffering the loss to East Carolina on Nov. 14, 1970, a majority of the Marshall team boarded Southern Airlines Flight 932. The Thundering Herd were traveling home after a 17-14 loss at East Carolina. [21], November 14, 2013, marked the first time that Marshall had played a road game on an anniversary of the disaster. The Marshall football team is 6-0 heading into Saturday’s game with Middle Tennessee State. All were qualified for the flight. On this date 50 years ago, Abbott piloted Southern Airways Flight 932 carrying the Marshall University football team. The opponent was scheduled to be East Carolina—the same team that defeated Marshall before the disaster took place. But he lost 37 of his former teammates. history. Near Huntington, West Virginia . At the time, freshmen couldn’t play varsity sports in college. New coach Jack Lengyel, Marshall University students, and Thundering Herd football fans convinced acting Marshall President Donald N. Dedmon to reconsider cancelling the program in late 1970. In the team’s first home game since the plane crash, Marshall put together one of the most inspiring performances in sports history. [16] The sculpture's designer, Harry Bertoia, created the $25,000 memorial that incorporated bronze, copper tubing, and welding rods. The Thundering Herd will be playing with tremendous emotion as the game is on the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that saw 75 players, coaches and fans die. [4] 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. Another employee of Southern Airways, Danny Deese, was aboard the flight to coordinate charter activities. The 1970 plane crash involving Marshall’s football team is widely-considered the greatest tragedy in American sports. Seventy children lost at least one parent in the crash, with 18 of them left orphaned. At 7:34 pm, the airliner's crew reported passing Tri-State Airport's outer marker. 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. All were on the travel squad list before the plane crash. It was donated to the university by Marshall fans and is attached to Joan C. Edwards Stadium on the west façade. (AP Photo/John Raby) 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. © Copyright 2021 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. "[7] The airliner left Stallings Field at Kinston, North Carolina, and the flight proceeded to Huntington without incident. [12] Lengyel led the Thundering Herd to a 9–33 record during his tenure, which ended after the 1974 season. It was impossible for the remaining Marshall players to forget about their fallen teammates, but they had to when the 1971 season approached. In 2006, Hollywood turned that inspiring slogan into one of the greatest sports movies ever made. briefly mourned after the 17-14 defeat, but what happened after the game shook the school and the town to its core. Aboard the plane were the Marshall University football team, coaching staff and boosters. “So, when Teddy graduated, I became a sophomore, and I … Lengyel, who came from a coaching job at the College of Wooster, was hired by the recently hired athletic director Joe McMullen, whom he had previously worked under at the University of Akron in the 1950s. The NCAA made an exception for the Thundering Herd. (aka "The Marshall University Football Team Crash") November 14th, 1970. 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. [11] Dawson was a coach from the previous staff who had driven back from the East Carolina game along with Gail Parker, a freshman coach. 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 in what has been recognized as "the worst sports-related air tragedy in U.S. It was unveiled to thousands 90 minutes before the game with the Miami University RedHawks. At 7:36 p.m. Nov. 14, 1970, Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed into a hill just short of the Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 people on board. 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". 75 on its helmets to honor those who were lost, which included most of the Thundering Herd football team. [18], Each year on the anniversary of the crash, those who died are mourned in a ceremony on the Marshall University campus in Huntington, West Virginia. [2], The original proposal to charter the flight was refused because it would exceed "the takeoff limitations of their aircraft". Before the trip, they were scheduled to go on a recruiting mission to Ferrum College after the ECU–Marshall game, in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to recruit junior college linebacker Billy Joe Mantooth. John Feinstein: Marshall football, 50 years after plane crash, carries on and remembers In some way, the banners ratified the unifying capacity of sports, given who juxtaposes whom on … An unfathomable 37 families were forced to mourn the death of their sons that fateful day. The accident also changed the city of Huntington, and the relationship between the university and the … ECU says its football team will not play Marshall, despite it being the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that killed most of Marshall’s team. Marshall fans and residents of Huntington, W.V. Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 domestic United States commercial jet flight from Stallings Field (ISO) in Kinston, North Carolina, to Huntington Tri-State Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field (HTS) near Kenova and Ceredo, West Virginia. December 10, 2006 Herald-Dispatch [Huntington]. At the time, Marshall's athletic teams rarely traveled by plane, since most away games were within easy driving distance of the campus. The Thundering Herd upset Xavier, 15-13, in an emotional victory for the ages. A memorial bell tower is being planned for a location on WV 75 near exit 1 along Interstate 64. December 11, 2006, Huntington Tri-State Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field, 38° 22' 27" N. latitude and 82° 34' 42" W. longitude, 2013 Conference USA Football Championship game, List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft, "Marshall crash still looms after 36 years", "Plane crash devastates Marshall University", "The story of the 1970 Marshall Plane Crash", "Tragedy litters the sports landscape: Marshall remains the worst sports-related air disaster", "Reporter recalls memories from worst sports- related air tragedy in US history", "NTSB Aircraft Accident Report – Southern Airways Inc. DC-9, N97S, Tri-State Airport, Huntington, West Virginia, November 14, 1970", "People have not forgotten Marshall Crash 30 years ago", "Emotions of tragedy drew Lengyel to Marshall", "Marshall football, 50 years after plane crash, carries on, and remembers", "Akron Alum Jack Lengyel to Receive AFCA's McLaughry Award", "Memorial Fountain designed to represent 'upward growth, immortality, eternality, "Marshall Memorial Bronze unveiled to mix of emotions", "Marker placed at site of crash, Dec. 11, 2006", "43 years later, Marshall still honors memory of fallen players", "Marshall Football to Don `75' Helmets for Remainder of Season", "ECU, Marshall game postponed due to pandemic", Aviation history synopsis of Southern Airways Flight 932 (with photographs), List of Victims of Southern Airways Flight 932, PlaneCrashInfo.Com – Southern Airways Flight 932 Entry, Marshall University Forensic Science Graduate Program, Marshall University – South Charleston Campus, Arthur Weisberg Family Engineering Laboratories, Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Science Center, Icelandair Flugfélag Islands Flight Fl 704, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Southern_Airways_Flight_932&oldid=998202481, Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1970, Airliner accidents and incidents in West Virginia, Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain, Accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas DC-9, November 1970 events in the United States, Aviation accidents and incidents involving sports teams, Articles with dead external links from May 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with dead external links from November 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 4 January 2021, at 08:03. 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