The National Transportation Safety Board blamed the crash on the pilot's failure to remove gust locks on the right aileron and the rudder before takeoff, as well as an overloaded baggage compartment. On Nov. 12, 1970, 45 players and nine coachesthe entire Marshall University complementwere killed when their plane crashed while approaching an airport in Huntington, W.Va. One of two planes carrying members of the Wichita State team crashed in Colorado Oct. 2, 1970, killing 14 players. Despite having Jet in its name, National Jet Service, and by extension Air Indiana, actually operated the Douglas DC-3, a twin radial engine propeller plane designed in the 1930s. As it was, the extra baggage shifted the plane's center of gravity to the back end, and the locked rudder and aileron made it impossible to control the overweight aircraft. Crowded around their radios and televisions, the people of Evansville learned the shocking news later that night: their beloved basketball team was dead. Tragically, the 1977-78 University of Evansville mens basketball team and its head coach himself a relatively young man --did not get to growold. Pieces of the airplane, bodies and purple gym bags were strewn on a muddy hillside. UEs players shared their young coachs optimism. [1] Only an inhumanly quick appraisal of the situation, followed by a timely and forceful nose-down input on the control column, could have saved them. Like . On stone slabs are engraved the names of the players who were killed, including Furr. The aircraft lost control and crashed shortly after lift-off. High near 60F. Joe Atkinson moved to Evansville the same week he graduated from collegeand it didnt take long for him to hear the story. Editor's note: Mike Joyner, a 1977 graduate of Terre Haute South High School, was a freshman guard on the University of Evansville basketball team killed in the plane crash described below. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. In 1977 UE began playing in NCAA Division I athletics. Tributes from sports teams around the country rolled in one after another. EVANSVILLE, Ind., Dec. 13A chartered DC3 airplane carrying 31 persons, including the University of Evansville basketball team, crashed and burned soon after it took off in dense fog tonight. Your email address will not be published. Calculations showed that this would have put the center of gravity near the aft limit, but not over it, and in any case DC-3s operated beyond their weight and balance limits all the time. His words capture the essence of Beavens book. EVANSVILLE, Ind. It was a big moment in Evansville and I think that gets lost sometimes.. According to the form, 56 kilograms should have been placed in the aft baggage compartment and 227 kilograms in the forward baggage compartment, which would help offset the slightly tail-heavy passenger distribution. Higher wind gusts possible.. Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Lawsuits were filed. But even as the lost basketball team continued to attract the spotlight, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board were already arriving in Evansville to search for the cause of the crash, which was, of course, no act of God something had brought down that plane. The basketball program was revived, but it's hard to bring back the glory days that led to that 1977 season that ended before it had barely begun.

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