"It was such a disastrous day."

[Remember'70]

Take some time this morning to remember all those that were affected by the tragic events 45 years ago today.

The Eagle has done a great job with a few stories that every Shocker fan should read.

http://www.kansas.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/bob-lutz/article37199025.html

http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article37204563.html

[kawwsu77]

In 2010, my Dad, good friend and I hiked up to the crash site. Attached is a link to the pictures I took.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjrnW7GF

[kawwsu77]

Attached is a link to photos of the crash from The Wichita Eagle.

http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article985769.html

[ArtVandalay]

Maybe I'm terribly naive, but are you telling me they never cleaned up the wreckage? I was not alive yet, but have heard the stories many times regarding the accident, but I never really thought to think they left half the plane sitting on the mountain. All that stuff is still sitting on the mountainside? Was this typical for the time period? Surely that's not still typical now, is it?

Thanks for the photos. Those are interesting.

[RoyalShock]

I was talking to a co-worker this morning and learned that his dad was a freshman who was riding in the other plane that day.

[ShockBand]

Maybe I'm terribly naive, but are you telling me they never cleaned up the wreckage? I was not alive yet, but have heard the stories many times regarding the accident, but I never really thought to think they left half the plane sitting on the mountain. All that stuff is still sitting on the mountainside? Was this typical for the time period? Surely that's not still typical now, is it?

Thanks for the photos. Those are interesting.

At that time, cleaning up a wreckage site was not normally done, especially in a remote location such as this one.

[ArtVandalay]

At that time, cleaning up a wreckage site was not normally done, especially in a remote location such as this one.

I guess it just wasn't something I really thought about. The crash site was real close to I-70 and I believe the Loveland Ski area. I just assumed they gathered up as much as they could, like they do today, in order to get a better idea if there were mechanical issues or what caused the crash.

[WuDrWu]

Keep in mind, it's not a simple place to get to, especially 45 years ago. Even today, getting equipment there to haul it out isn't easy.

They removed what they had to remove...anything with oil etc too. What remains was just too low a priority.

I know this comes up every year, but if you haven't seen it, this is MUST see TV. So well done.

[Ashockalypse]

A very sad time.

[Shocker-maniac]

The Pieces that Remain: Remembering the Wichita State Plane Crash by Abigail Wilson

http://kmuw.net/feature/the-pieces-that-remain/index.html

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - Memorial '70 Set for Oct. 2

WICHITA, Kan. -- At 9 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 2, Wichita State will host the 52nd Observance of Memorial '70. The ceremony will honor the 31 WSU football players, administrators and supporters who died in a 1970 plane crash in the Rocky Mountains. It will take place at the Memorial near 18th and Hillside.

A wreath will be placed at the base of Memorial '70, and there will be a time of remembrance to acknowledge the changes that the plane crash made in the lives of the victims, their families, their friends and the university.

Those interested in making a tax-deductible contribution in memory of the crash victims can give to the Football '70 Memorial Scholarship, the only endowed scholarship at WSU dedicated in collective memory to those who died in the tragedy.

The scholarship is awarded each year to a student of any major with at least a 3.0 GPA who demonstrates financial need.

Contributions can be made through the WSU Foundation, 1845 Fairmount St., Wichita, KS 67260-0002, for the Football '70 Memorial Scholarship.

Contributions also may be made online. Request to direct your gift to the Football '70 Memorial Scholarship at www.wichita.edu/give.

TRIBUTE LOCATIONS ON CAMPUS
Attendees may visit the Memorial near 18th and Hillside.

RSC 202 (Shocker 70) in Rhatigan Student Center is reserved. There will be a floral tribute and looping PowerPoint featuring those who died as a result of the plane crash.

The Memorial 70 display case on the Koch Arena concourse has pictures of the deceased and the certificate for the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame.

Not going to lie. This was well before I was born but I've been taking in everything I can for years. Stories about the crash, both local and not. Hearing from the survivors, the rescuers and those left behind... You didn't have to live through the experience to feel it. Not saying it's on the same level and I openly admit I've always been more sensitive to the pain of others than the average person. But every year, for at least 25 years now, I've absorbed everything I can in the days/weeks leading up to this and it still hits me pretty good, so I can only imagine what it's like for those who were around and effected at the time. But I will always share what I can find when the time comes.

I'm sure there were other threads on this I probably could have dug up, but this one called to me so here we are. I hope that any on this board who were around and impacted by this have found some measure of healing and peace.

[shoxlax]

A few years ago I hiked up to the site. Still pieces of the wreckage up there like it happened in the not so distant past. I was a very little kid when it happened but I remember my Mom telling me the awful news as it broke.

[SubGod22]

I've always wanted to make that journey. There was a time that I know I could have physically, but I need to get back to that point before making the attempt. Hopefully in the next couple of years.

[SubGod22]

WSU - How journalists remember their work on 1970 WSU plane crash coverage

Mike Kennedy remembers when the paper bearing the Associated Press bulletin came over the wire in the KMUW radio newsroom on that October day in 1970.

A plane carrying the Wichita State University football team had crashed. The Associated Press, Kennedy recalls, embargoed the story until reporters learned more details. Early reporting varied between all surviving and none surviving.

Two planes carried the team, but which crashed?

“There was such a sense of shock and disbelief,” he said. “I really think we were some of the first people in Wichita to know about it. We started dividing up assignments. We knew there were two planes. They sent me over to the administration building to see if it was possible to find out which plane it was.”

He walked from the former KMUW building on 17th Street to Morrison Hall.

Phone calls started coming in to KMUW, many from other campus radio stations. Kennedy remembers staff members taking several calls from Ohio, home of several Shocker coaches and football players.

“One thing that always struck me was, walking over, it was about as a beautiful an afternoon as you could ever want,” said Kennedy, a 1971 Wichita State graduate and long-time radio voice of Shockers athletics. “And I understood, it was the same in Colorado.”

As it turned out, the Oct. 2, 1970 plane crash killed 31 people – 14 players, 14 staff, administrators and boosters, the pilot and two flight attendants. Eight players and the co-pilot survived the crash of the Martin 404 on a Friday afternoon on Mount Trelease near Silver Plume, Colorado. The Shockers were flying to Logan, Utah for a game the next day at Utah State.

The initial news coverage focused on the aftermath – Federal Aviation Administration hearings, funerals, lawsuits and the team’s game against Arkansas in Little Rock a few weeks later.

As time passed, journalists, many of them Wichita State students and graduates, documented the stories of the families of the victims, the survivors and their struggles, and their teammates and friends. The stories depended on those memories and a willingness, sometimes a need, to keep the story alive.

It's a longer read, but if you're like me, you're going to do it and fight the emotions that may come along with reading these accounts. As per usual, Sully does a good job.

[WstateU]

Check out the YouTube video…