Southern Airways Flight 932
| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 14, 1970 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) |
| Site |
Wayne County, near Ceredo, West Virginia, United States 38°22′27″N 82°34′42″W / 38.37417°N 82.57833°W |
| Passengers | 71 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 75 (all) |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-9-31 |
| Operator | Southern Airways |
| Registration | N97S |
| Flight origin | Kinston Regional Jetport |
| Destination | Tri-State Airport |
Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 domestic United States commercial jet flight from Stallings Field (ISO) in Kinston, North Carolina, to Huntington Tri-State Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field (HTS) in Ceredo, West Virginia. At 7:36 pm on November 14, 1970, the aircraft crashed into a hill just short of the Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 people on board.
The plane was carrying 37 members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, nine members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, and four flight crew members. The team was returning home after a 17–14 loss to the East Carolina Pirates at Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.
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 DC-9. The accident is the deadliest tragedy affecting any sports team in U.S. history.
The aircraft was a 95-seat, twin jet engine Douglas DC-9-30 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 only flight that year for the Marshall University football team.
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. The controllers advised the crew that there was "rain, fog, smoke and a ragged ceiling" at the airport, making landing more difficult but possible. At 7:34 pm, the airliner's crew reported passing Tri-State Airport's outer marker. The controller gave them clearance to land. The aircraft began its normal descent after passing the outer marker, but did not arrest its descent and hold altitude at 1240 ft, as required by the assigned instrument approach procedure. Instead, the descent continued for another 300 ft for unknown reasons, apparently without either crewmember seeing the airport lights or runway.
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