Southern Airways Flight 932
![A Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 similar to the aircraft involved in the accident](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Southern_Airways_DC-9_%286146173132%29.jpg)
The plane was carrying 37 members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, two pilots, two flight attendants, and a charter coordinator. 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 to have affected any sports team in U.S. history.
It was the second college football team plane crash in a little over a month, after the October 2 crash that killed 31 (head coach, 14 Wichita State players, and 16 others). Provided by Wikipedia
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