SILVER PLUME, Colo. (AP) — In a small clearing on Mount Trelease, a faded and tattered yellow shirt rests among twisted shards of metal.
Emblazoned across the front: Wichita State.
A heavy reminder of what took place 50 years ago in this section of the Colorado Rocky Mountains where memorials and tributes dot the scarred landscape.
It’s here a plane carrying the Wichita State football team crashed while traveling to a game at Utah State on Oct. 2, 1970. Of the 40 on board, 31 died, including 14 players along with coaches, boosters, administrators, trainers and three crew members.
It’s also here, a steep climb at 11,000 feet, that many have ventured.
Loved ones, to leave keepsakes. Teammates, to say a tearful goodbye. Survivors of the crash, too, like defensive lineman Dave Lewis who went a decade ago because, “I wanted to look at it to see what this place of horror resembled in peace. It’s holy ground to me. My friends died there.”
From the mountainside to an annual observance on the Wichita, Kansas, campus, that tragic day remains etched in history.
The school will hold a remembrance Friday at Cessna Stadium, where the Shockers played until the football program was disbanded for cost-cutting reasons in 1986.
Many touched by the tragedy will be there. To cry. To honor. To remember.
“I took the attitude that maybe I was given a second chance that day,” said Mike Bruce, an offensive tackle who was one of only nine survivors of the crash. “I owed it to them, to those who didn’t make it, to do the best I can and be the best I can.”
Two twin-engine planes left that picture-perfect autumn morning from Wichita for the game in Logan, Utah.
On the “Gold” plane were the starters, along with head coach Ben Wilson and his wife, Helen. Also on board were Kansas state Rep. Ray King and his wife, Yvonne. Neither couple survived.
On the “Black” aircraft were the reserves.
The planes stopped in Denver to refuel. While there, one of the pilots, Ron Skipper, bought aeronautical charts at the airport.
The plane carrying the starters went on a sightseeing tour through the Rockies, while the reserves’ aircraft followed the original flight plan through Wyoming and over to Logan.
