The 1970 Marshall University football team and coaches (Marshall University)

It’s a morbid, frightening subject to be sure, but airplane crashes have taken the lives of a number of celebrities. Here are ten famous air crashes that rocked the world of sports. The list is in no particular order, as no premium can be placed on the value of a human life.

Marshall University Football Team, November 14, 1970 – We Are Marshall

Chartered Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed into a hillside near Huntington, West Virginia, at 7:35 PM (ET) on November 14, 1970, killing all 75 people on board. Among the dead were 37 players from the Thundering Herd football team, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 fans, four flight crew and one charter company employee. Bad weather and improper use of cockpit instrumentation data were blamed for the crash, with the plane bursting into flames on impact and coming to a halt 4,219 feet short of the runway at Huntington-Tri-State/Melton Airport. The team was returning home aboard the DC-9-31 following a 17-14 loss to the East Carolina Pirates. The 2006 film, We Are Marshall, starring Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox, dramatized the tragic event and its aftermath.

Wichita State University Football Team, October 2, 1970 – Saga of The Black and Gold

One of two Martin 404s carrying the Wichita State University football team crashed into Mt. Trelease near Silver Plume, Colorado, on October 2, 1970, eventually taking the lives of 31 of the 40 people on board. Pilot error was ruled as the cause of the crash, with the so-called doomed “Gold” plane ferrying the starting players, coaches and boosters to a football game against Utah State in Logan. The crash claimed 14 of the team’s players, whose ages ranged from 19 to 21. One of the survivors was 21-year-old Randy Jackson, who went on to play three seasons in the National Football League.

Rocky Marciano, August 31, 1969 – The Rock’s Final Flight

Undefeated heavyweight boxer Rocky Marciano (1923-1969), along with pilot Glenn Belz (37) and fellow passenger Frankie Farrell (23), lost their lives on August 31, 1969, when their single engine Cessna 172H struck an oak tree two miles short of the runway at a private airfield near Newton, Iowa. Bad weather, night conditions and pilot inexperience were blamed for the crash, which had killed all three passengers on impact. It was the eve of Marciano’s 46th birthday, with the retired fighter, whose professional career record was an unblemished 49-0, headed to a speaking engagement in Des Moinies following a dinner at the Chicago home of STP CEO Andy Granatelli. A surprise birthday celebration for Marciano was planned pending his arrival at his Fort Lauderdale home.

Rocky Marciano (1923-1969)

California Poly San Luis Obispo Football Team, October 29, 1960 – Tragedy in Toledo

A chartered Arctic Pacific Curtiss C-46F propliner carrying the California Polytechnic University football team crashed on takeoff from Toledo (Ohio) Express Airport on October 29, 1960, killing 22 of the 48 people on board. Among the dead were 16 football players, the club’s student manager and one Cal Poly sports booster. Deteriorating weather conditions, overloading and pilot error were cited as the probable causes of the crash. It was noted that the pilot of the C-46 was flying on a revoked license, pending an appeal.

Knute Rockne, March 31, 1931 – The Fighting Irish Mourn

Legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne (1888-1931), along with all seven other passengers and crew, died on TWA Flight 599 when their Fokker F-10A Trimotor crashed shortly after takeoff near Bazaar, Kansas, on March 31, 1931. Structural failure was blamed for the crash of the Trimotor, which had been bound from Kansas City to Los Angeles. Rockne was on his way to Hollywood for filming of The Spirit of Notre Dame (1931), starring Lew Ayres and William Bakewell. President Herbert Hoover later called the death of Rockne “a national loss.”

Knute Rockne (1888-1931)

University of Evansville Men’s Basketball Team, December 13, 1977 – The Doomed Purple Aces

A chartered National Jet Service Douglas DC-3 carrying the University of Evansville men’s basketball team crashed shortly after takeoff in Evansville, Indiana, on December 13, 1977, killing all 29 people on board. In their earlier days the team would have taken a bus, but now that the university was competing at the Division I level a chartered jet was booked for the Purple Aces’ away game against Middle Tennessee State. Improperly loaded luggage was blamed for the accident, with the crash site resembling something out of a horror movie as described by Gene Hollencamp, a former Vietnam War medic who was one of the first people on the scene: “As we got closer, my first impression was it looked like there were a lot of tombstones scattered around. Then I realized they were seats with many of the passengers still strapped in them.” After spying the University of Evansville flag, Hollencamp remembered thinking, “Oh, my God, this is the Aces.”

Roberto Clemente, December 31, 1972 – A Ballplayer’s Mission of Mercy

Pittsburgh Pirates baseball star Roberto Clemente (1934-1972), along with the four other people on board, were killed when their DC-7 lost power in engines No. 2 and 3 and crashed shortly after takeoff off the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, on New Year’s Eve 1972. Poor maintenance, overloading and sub-par flight personnel were blamed for the crash. Clemente was on a mission of mercy to deliver badly needed supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. 

United States Figure Skating Team, February 15, 1961 - There Is No Future

All 72 people aboard Sabena Flight 548 were killed when their Boeing 707 crashed near Brussels, Belgium, on February 15, 1961. Among the casualties were all 18 members of the 1961 U.S. Figure Skating Team, along with 16 coaches, officials, judges and family members. The flight had originated in New York and was headed to Prague, the site of the World Figure Skating Championships. Mechanical failure of the 707’s flying controls was blamed for the crash, with the plane going down in flames some four miles short of the Brussels airport. “And now there is no future…./For each, the story was the same/The past that seemed so short was longer than they knew/It was all they would ever have,” read the eulogy in The Burbank (California) Daily Review, February 16, 1961.

The 1961 United States Figure Skating Team

Thurman Munson, August 2, 1979 – Farewell to Number 15

New York Yankee captain and perennial All Star Thurman Munson (1947-1979) was killed at Akron-Canton Regional Airport while practicing takeoffs and landings in a Cessna 501 Citation jet on August 2, 1979. Aboard the aircraft were friend Jerry Anderson and flight instructor Dave Hall, both of whom survived the crash. Pilot error was blamed for the accident, with the 32-year-old Munson trapped inside where it is believed he died of asphyxiation after inhaling the burning fumes of toxic substances. Munson’s #15 Yankees jersey was immediately retired by the team upon hearing of his death.

United States Olympic Boxing Team, March 14, 1980 – End of a Dream

All 87 people aboard Polish Airlines Flight 007 were killed when their Ilyushin-62 crashed near Warsaw, Poland, on March 14, 1980. Among the casualties were 14 fighters and 8 officials from the U.S. Boxing Team and Polish singer Anna Jantar. On a second approach to Warsaw’s Okecie Airport the airliner’s pilots had employed a special procedure in order to compensate for a malfunctioning landing gear. When one of the engines broke apart, the rudder and elevator control lines were severed, causing the pilots to lose control of the plane. The team was to have competed in dual meets in Cracow and Katowice, Poland.

Twelve More Tragic Sports Personality Airplane Crashes

• Alianza Lima Soccer Team, near Lima, Peru, aboard a Fokker F-27, December 8, 1987
• Eleven members, coaches and officials of the Manchester United Football Team, Munich, West Germany, aboard British European Airways Flight 609/Airspeed Ambassador A5-57, February 6, 1958
• Chicago Cubs second baseman Ken Hubbs (1941-1964), near Provo, Utah, while piloting a Cessna 172D, February 15, 1964
• Green Cross Chilean Soccer Team, Llico, Chile, aboard LAN Flight 310/Douglas DC-3, April 3, 1961
• Former Olympic track star and U.S. Marine captain Charlie Paddock (1900-1943), near Sitka, Alaska, aboard a U.S. Navy plane, July 21, 1943
• Scottish race car driver Ron Flockhart (1923-1962), near Melbourne, Australia, while piloting a P-51 Mustang, April 12, 1962
• Professional golfer Tony Lema (1934-66), near Munster, Indiana, aboard a twin-engine Beechcraft Bonanza, July 24, 1966
• CART racing team owner and former Indianapolis 500 driver Tony Lee Bettenhausen (1951-2000), Leesburg, Kentucky, aboard a twin-engine Beech Baron, February 14, 2000
• Former National Hockey League player and Los Angeles Kings scout Garnet “Ace” Bailey (1948-2001), New York, New York, aboard hijacked United Airlines Flight 175/Boeing 767 when it slammed into the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001
• British race car drivers Richard Lloyd (1945-2008) and David Leslie (1953-2008), London, England, aboard a Cessna 500 Citation I, March 30, 2008
• The Zambian National Soccer Team, near Libreville, Gabon, aboard Zambia Air Force de Havilland Buffalo #319, April 27, 1993
• Professional golfer Payne Stewart (1957-1999), Aberdeen, South Dakota, aboard a Gates Learjet 35, October 25, 1999 

Garnet “Ace” Bailey (1948-2001)

Garry Hoy 

Source

In 1993 at a company party, Hoy was showing a bunch of interns at the law firm where he worked that it was not possible to break the glass in the Toronto-Dominion Centre. He ran across the room on the 24th floor and flung himself into the glass and bounced off. He had done this stunt many times in the past and on this night he tried a second time. The glass shattered and Hoy fell 24 stories to his death. (There was a professional baseball player whose name was Dummy Hoy.)

Tom and Eileen Lonergan 

Source

In 1998 the couple went on a scuba diving trip off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. They lost track of the time and remained underwater at the boat’s scheduled departure time. One of the boat’s crew members miscounted how many people were on the boat and the couple was stranded at sea. No one even realized they were missing for two days until someone found one of their bags under a seat on the boat. Despite a massive search their bodies were never found though some of their stuff washed onshore including a desperate plea for help on a waterproof tablet. Speculation surfaced they had faked their own deaths but their bank accounts were never touched and life insurance policies remain unclaimed. Their story was the subject of the 2004 film Open Water. Chilling to watch as the sharks close in.

Visiting Soccer Team 

Source

In 1998 an entire visiting soccer team in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was killed by a forked lightning bolt.

Jonathan Burton 

Source

In 2000, 19 year old Jonathon Burton went crazy and stormed the cockpit door of Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City, Utah. Eight passengers grabbed him and threw him to the floor. An off duty police officer was escorting him to the back of the plane with another man’s help when Burton went crazy again and punched the officer in the mouth. Burton was again thrown to the floor of the airplane and allegedly a large burly man repeatedly slammed himself onto Burton’s chest. Burton was still alive when the plane landed but died soon after of acute asphyxia. No one was ever charged.

Brittanie Cecil 

Source

In 2002 Brittanie was killed by a hockey puck that flew into the stands during a game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Calgary Flames at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard 

Image via Wikipedia

In 2003 the couple were killed and partially consumed by a grizzly bear in Alaska while Treadwell was filming the bears. Treadwell had been going to Alaska for 13 years and living among and filming the bears. The incident was not directly filmed as the camera was facing away but the audio captured the gruesome details. In 2005 film maker Werner Herzog did a documentary film, Grizzly Man, which discusses Treadwell and his death, including the audio clip. Another chilling film.  

Lee Seung Seop 

Source

In 2005, this 28 year old South Korean died of acute fatigue after playing the video game StarCraft online for over 50 consecutive hours in an Internet cafe.

Jennifer Strange 

Source

In 2007, this 28 year old appropriately named woman died of water intoxication while trying to win a Wii video game console during a publicity stunt held by Sacramento, California radio station KDND. The “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest involved having contestants drinking prodigious amounts of water without going to the bathroom.

Richard Wertheim 

Source

In 1993, Wertheim was working as a linesman at the US Open when a shot by Stefan Edberg hit him in the groin and knocked him backwards and he fractured his skull on the hard surface and died shortly thereafter in the hospital.

Robert Williams 

Source

In 1979 at a Ford Motor Company plant in Flint Michigan, Williams became what is believed to be the first human killed by a robot when he was ordered to retrieve a part from a storage bin because the robot assigned to that job was being too slow. As Williams grabbed the part the robot’s arm swung around and hit him in the head killing him instantly. Williams family was awarded $10 million dollars in damages.

Janet Parker 

In 1978 Janet Parker was working as a medical photographer at the University of Birmingham Medical School when a researcher at the lab she was working in accidentally released the smallpox virus into the building and it killed Parker. Smallpox had been wiped out in the wild and only existed in labs at that time. Parker’s death led to the suicide of Professor Henry Bedson who was the head of the microbiology department. Parker is believed to be the last human smallpox fatality in history, at least until another accident or worse happens.

Payne Stewart 

In 1999 the Learjet carrying golf professional Payne Stewart, his two agents, a Jack Nicklaus golf course designer and two pilots lost cabin pressure and all aboard died of hypoxia or lack of oxygen. The incident occurred in mid-flight and the Air Force had to send fighter aircraft to monitor the flight of the pilot-less jet. The Lear’s windows were observed to be clouded over with frost due to the lack of cabin pressure. Reportedly the Air Force was prepared to shoot down the Learjet if it ran out of fuel near any type of populated area. After a few hours of pilot-less flight time the plane ended up running out fuel and crashing in the middle of nowhere in North Dakota. Stewart had won the US Golf Open at Pinehurst just 4 months prior to his death.