Southern Airways Flight 932
Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered Southern Airways Douglas DC9 domestic United States commercial jet flight from Stallings Field (ISO) in Kinston, North Carolina, to Huntington TriState Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field (HTS) in Ceredo, West Virginia. At 7:35 on November 14, 1970, the aircraft crashed into a hill just short of the TriState Airport, killing all 75 people on board.[1] The plane was carrying 37 members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, four flight crew members and one employee of the charter company. The team was returning home after a 1714 loss to the East Carolina Pirates at Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.[2] 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 DC9.[3]The aircraft was a 95seat, twin jet engine Douglas DC931 with tail registration N97S. The airliner's crew was Captain Frank H. Abbot, 47; First Officer Jerry Smith, 28; flight attendants Pat Vaught and Charlene Poat. All were qualified for the flight. Another employee of Southern Airways, Danny Deese, was aboard the flight to coordinate charter activities. This flight was the first that year for the Marshall football team.[1]
Events leading Kiko Alonso Jersey to the crash
The airliner left Stallings Field at Kinston, North Carolina, and the flight proceeded to Huntington without incident. The crew established radio contact with air traffic controllers at 7:23 pm with instructions to descend to 5,000 feet.[2] The controllers advised the crew that there was "rain, fog, smoke and a ragged ceiling" making landing more difficult but not impossible. At 7:34 pm, the airliner's crew reported passing TriState Airport's outer marker. According to the official NTSB report, the accident was "unsurvivable". The aircraft "dipped to the right, almost inverted and had crashed into a hollow 'nosefirst'".[2] By the time the plane came to a stop, it was 4,219 feet (1,286 short of the runway and 275 feet (84 south of the middle marker. The fire was very intense. The fuselage was reduced to what was described as a "powderlike substance" by the NTSB. The remains of six passengers were never identified.[2]The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident, and their final report was issued on April 14, 1972. At least one source says that water which had seeped into the plane's altimeter could have thrown off its height readings, leading the pilots who had never before flown into TriState Airport to believe the plane was higher than was actually the case.[5]
The board made three recommendations as a result of this accident, including recommendations for heads up displays, ground proximity warning devices and surveillance and inspection of flight operations.
On November 15, 1970, a memorial service was held at the Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse with moments of silence, remembrances and prayers.[2] The following Saturday another Memorial Service was held at Fairfield Stadium. Across the nation many expressed their condolences. Classes at Marshall, along with numerous events and shows by the Marshall Artists Series (and the football Kiko Alonso NFL Jersey team's game against the Ohio Bobcats) were canceled and government offices were closed. A mass funeral was held at the Field House and many were buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery, some together.
The effects of the crash on Huntington went far beyond the Marshall campus. Because it was the Herd's only charter flight of the season, many boosters and prominent citizens were on the plane, including a city councilman, a state legislator and four physicians. Seventy children lost at least one parent in the crash, with 18 of them left orphaned.[6]
The crash of Flight 932 almost led to the discontinuation of the university's football program. Head coach Rick Tolley was among the crash victims.[7] Jack Lengyel was named to take Tolley's place on March 12, 1971, after Dick Bestwick, the first choice for the job, backed out after just one week and returned to Georgia Tech. Lengyel, who came from a coaching job at the College of Wooster, was hired by recentlyhired athletic director Joe McMullen. Lengyel played for McMullen at the University of Akron in the 1950s.
Jack Lengyel, Marshall University students, and Thundering Herd football fans convinced acting Marshall President Dr. Donald N. Dedmon to reconsider canceling the program in late 1970.[clarification needed] In the weeks afterward, Lengyel was aided in his attempts by receivers coach Red Dawson.[8] Dawson was a coach from the previous staff who had driven back from the East Carolina game along with Gail Parker, a Freshman coach. Parker flew to the game, but didn't fly back. Dawson and Parker were buying boiled peanuts at a country store in rural Virginia when they heard the news over the radio. Before the trip, they were scheduled to go on a scouting mission to Ferrum College after the ECU Marshall game. After the crash, Red Dawson helped bring together a group of players who were on the junior varsity football team during the 1970 season, as well as students and athletes from other sports, to form a 1971 football team.[7] Many had never played football before, and the team only won two games during the 1971 season, against Xavier and Bowling Green.[7] Jack Lengyel led the Thundering Herd to a 933 record during his tenure, which ended after the 1974 season.
Marshall University President John G. Barker and VicePresident Donald Dedmon appointed a Memorial Committee soon after the crash.[9] The committee decided upon one major memorial within Footballbillsstore the campus, a plaque and memorial garden at Fairfield Stadium and a granite cenotaph at the Spring Hill Cemetery; the Memorial Student Center was designated a memorial as well.
On November 12, 1972, the Memorial Fountain was dedicated at the entrance of the Memorial Student Center.[9] The sculpture's designer, Italian artist Harry Bertoia, created the $25,000 memorial that incorporated bronze, copper tubing and welding rods. The 6500pound, 13foothigh (2900kilogram, fourmeterhigh) sculpture was completed within a year and a half of its conception. McColm Granite Company installed a permanent plaque on the base on August 10, 1973. It reads:
They shall live on in the hearts of their families and friends forever and
this memorial records their loss to the university and the community.[9]
Every year, on the anniversary of the crash, the fountain is shut off during a commemorative ceremony and not activated again until the following spring.
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. A number of the victims are buried in a grave site in the Spring Hill Cemetery in Huntington; 20th Street, the road that leads from the cemetery to the campus, was renamed Marshall Memorial Boulevard in their honor.
On November 11, 2005, the We Are Marshall Memorial Bronze was dedicated.[10] The bronze 1723foot (57meter) statue was created by artist Burl Jones of Sissonville and cost $150,000. It is based upon ideas by John and Ann Krieger of Huntington. It was donated to the university by Marshall fans and is attached to the Joan C. Edwards Stadium on the west facade. It was unveiled to thousands only 90 minutes before the game with Miami University.
On December 11, 2006, a memorial plaque www.footballbillsstore.com/bills-kiko-alonso-jersey-c-20.html was dedicated at the plane crash site.[11] The ceremony featured guest speakers William "Red" Dawson and Jack Hardin. The Ceredo and Kenova fire departments were recognized at the event.
On Nov. history, when a Southern Airways DC9 crashed into a hillside nearby.
The victims included 37 Marshall University football players, 8 coaches and administrators, 25 fans and air crew of 5.
No one survived this horrific disaster.[12]
Another plaque memorializing the 1970 Marshall football team was unveiled at East Carolina University on the same day and can be seen at the guest team entrance of DowdyFicklen Stadium. Featured speakers were Chancellor Steve Ballard, Athletic Director Terry Holland, Pirates' broadcaster Jeff Charles, and Marshall President Stephen Kopp.
A memorial bell tower is being planned for a location on WV 75 near Exit 1 along Interstate 64.[11]
Marshall University: Ashes to Glory, a documentary by Deborah Novak and John Witek released on November 18, 2000, about the crash and the subsequent recovery of the Marshall football program in the decades following.
We Are Marshall, a film dramatizing the crash of Flight 932 and its repercussions, premiered on December 12, 2006 in Huntington, West Virginia. It stars Matthew McConaughey as Jack Lengyel and Matthew Fox as Red Dawson. The DVD of the film was released September 18, 2007.
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