The Daily O’Collegian

It was Oct. 2, 1970, and the Wichita State University football team boarded a plane that would take them to Logan, Utah, from Denver.

The Martin 404 aircraft, which was 5,165 pounds over the maximum allowable weight, crashed when it could not climb over an obstructing mountain or successfully reverse the course.“We lost 29 people in that crash,” said Jim Rhatigan, former vice president for academic affairs at Wichita State University. “Our situation was a lot like the one at OSU.”

“Students and staff went through many different stages of emotions,” Rhatigan said. “At first, people were traumatized; then they just couldn’t believe that it had happened.

“After some time, there was recognition and then finally grieving — it really took some time for people to start healing.”

Al Marinai, who was a sophomore at California Polytechnic State University in 1960, has haunting memories of his own.

The Cal Poly football team had just lost to Bowling Green State University 50-6. The players pushed the twin-engine C-46 out of the hanger and onto the runway. Shortly after takeoff, the plane jerked to the side, slammed into the concrete runway still underneath it and split in two.

Of the 46 passengers, 22 died.

“That was 40 years ago — almost 41,” Marinai said. “I still think about it.”

Marinai, who was being scouted by professional football teams, was the most injured survivor and spent the next three years in the hospital and has permanent.

But he said the most traumatic part of the crash was the emotional impact.

“You can’t help but think of those young lives, what they could have been, what they could have done,” he said. “There were a lot of broken hearts.”

Another aspect of the crash that bothered Marinai were the circumstances that surrounded the crash.

The plane, which was put in the hanger due to weather conditions, was overloaded by 2,009 pounds. The captain’s license had been revoked prior to the flight.

Norm Gomes, a student at Cal Poly at the time, was out of town when he heard the news. His roommate was aboard the plane.

“I heard it on the radio while I was driving,” Gomes said. “I called a number the radio had given, and they listed off the people that had died. My roommate wasn’t one of them.”

Gomes said he was torn by his emotions.

“I felt grief for those who died, but I couldn’t help but feel relieved for my roommate and thankful for those who had lived.”

The campus mourned the loss of their football team.

“It was kind of like a rainstorm,” Gomes said. “Everything shut down, and people emotionally boarded themselves up. Then there was a flood of emotions and eventually, an eeriness that was left behind.”

Al Marinai never went back to Cal Poly — he said there were too many memories.

“It will haunt you,” he said. “I haven’t flown since that night.”

Unlike Cal Poly and the crash of 1960, OSU has supported the victim’s families.

“For a while, it was like it didn’t happen,” Gomes said. “They started having reunions of the survivors after a few years, but they really didn’t seem to put out much effort to comfort the families of the victims.

“Some memorial stuff was done but nothing outstanding.”

Rhatigan said he thinks the support from OSU administration has been tremendous.

“OSU has responded to this tragedy and handled everything very well,” he said. “I think they should all be very proud of the people at their institution.”