- ACCIDENT DETAILS
Date: October 02, 1970
Time: 1200
Location: Mt. Trelease, near Silver Plume, Colorado
Operator: Charter, Golden Eagle Aviation Inc.
Flight #: 108
Route: Wichita - Denver - Logan, Utah
AC Type: Martin 404
Registration: N464M
cn / ln: 14151
Aboard: 40   (passengers:37  crew:3)
Fatalities: 32   (passengers:30  crew:2)
Ground: 0
Summary: Two charter planes took off Wichita for a flight to Logan, Utah via Denver. The flight was uneventful to Denver. The crew of N464M decided to fly a scenic route the rest of the way to Logan. The aircraft, which was overloaded by 5,165 lbs. , flew into a box canyon. Confronted with steeply rising terrain, the pilot made a sharp bank trying to turn around in the narrowing valley and stalled, crashing into a mountainous forested area on Mt. Trelease. Numerous members and staff of the Wichita State Football team were killed. The pilot had only 123 total hours in a Martin 404, the copilot 30 hours. Intentional operation of the aircraft over a mountain valley route at an altitude from which the aircraft could neither climb over the obstructing terrain ahead, nor execute a successful course reversal. Other factors included overloaded conditions, lack of a flight planning and minimum qualifications of the crew.
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