Accident | |
---|---|
Date | October 2, 1970 |
Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error |
Site | Clear Creek County, Colorado 8 miles (13 km) west of Silver Plume, near the Loveland Ski Area 39°41′36″N 105°52′57″W / 39.69333°N 105.88250°W |
Aircraft type | Martin 4-0-4 |
Operator | Golden Eagle Aviation |
Registration | N464M, ex-N460A |
Flight origin | Wichita Mid-Continent Airport |
Stopover | Stapleton International Airport |
Destination | Logan-Cache Airport |
Passengers | 37 |
Crew | 3 |
Fatalities | 31 |
Survivors | 9 |
On Friday, October 2, 1970 at 1:14 p.m. MDT in Colorado a chartered Martin 4-0-4 airliner crashed into a mountain eight miles (13 km) west of Silver Plume.[1][2][3][4] It happened in clear weather. The twin-engined propliner carried 37 passengers and a crew of three; 29 were killed at the scene and two later died of their injuries while under medical care.[5] It was operated by Golden Eagle Aviation.
It was one of two aircraft carrying the Wichita State University football team to Logan, Utah. They were going to Utah for a game against Utah State University.[6] The other plane flew a normal route and arrived safely in Utah. Pilot errors, including bad in-flight choices and bad pre-flight planning, were officially reported as what caused the crash.[7]