.jpg) A Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 similar to the aircraft involved in the accident | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 14, 1970 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error |
| Site | Near Tri-State Airport, Huntington, West Virginia, U.S. 38°22′27″N 82°34′42″W / 38.37417°N 82.57833°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-9-31 |
| Operator | Southern Airways |
| 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 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. 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".[1][2]
The plane was carrying 37 members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, two pilots, two flight attendants, and a charter coordinator.[3] The team was returning home after a 17–14 loss to the East Carolina Pirates at Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.[4]
At the time, Marshall's athletic teams rarely traveled by plane, since most away games were within easy driving distance of the campus. The team originally planned to cancel the flight, but changed plans and chartered the Southern Airways DC-9.[5] The accident is the deadliest tragedy to have affected any sports team in U.S. history.[6]
It was the second college football team plane crash in a little over a month, after the October 2 crash that killed 31 (head coach, 14 Wichita State players, and 16 others).
- ^ "Marshall crash still looms after 36 years". Archived from the original on September 13, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2007.
- ^ Wilson, Amy (December 18, 2006). "The night Huntington died". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
- ^ "Plane crash devastates Marshall University". History.com. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
- ^ Withers, Bob (December 19, 2006). "The story of the 1970 Marshall Plane Crash". The Herald-Dispatch. Archived from the original on December 4, 2010. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
- ^ Drehs, Wayne (November 13, 2000). "Tragedy litters the sports landscape: Marshall remains the worst sports-related air disaster". ESPN. Huntington, West Virginia: ESPN.
- ^ Prince, Justin (November 16, 2010). "Reporter recalls memories from worst sports- related air tragedy in US history". The Parthenon. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013.