Spoiler Alert : This article include detail about the real outcome that urge the 2006 film " We Are Marshall . " These events are cardinal to the film ’s game and ending .
The story state in " We Are Marshall " sounds a small like the conception of a screenwriter . An airplane carry a universityfootballteam collapse , kill nearly all of the players , most of the coaching stave and several prominent devotee . The university and the closely - knit surrounding community are devastated but settle to persevere . A raw head coach put together a team of freshmen and athletes who have never played football . This piebald crowd go on to win its first home secret plan with a record - break number of fans in attendance .
But in spite of sounding like they were made for Hollywood , these events really remove station . On Nov. 14 , 1970 , Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed on approach to Tri - State Airport in Kenova , West Virginia . Marshall University had lease the planing machine to carry its football squad , the Thundering Herd , home from a game against East Carolina University . All 70 passengers and five gang members were killed . Only a fistful of the thunder Herd were not on board .
The airplane , a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 - 31 , had fly from Atlanta , Georgia , to Kinston , North Carolina , to pluck up its passengers . Flight 932 then get out Kinston at 6:38 p.m. Eastern Standard Time ( EST ) , and the flight , look to take 52 minutes , progressed unremarkably . But about 1 mile ( 1.6 metre ) from the Tri - State Airport runway , the aeroplane struck tree diagram on a hill , cut a 75 - foot all-embracing , 279 - foot prospicient ( 22.8 x 85 metre ) swath through them before crash into the ground . The planing machine exploded on shock . The main wreckage landed only 4,219 foot ( 1,286 meter ) from the runway .
The column controller started view for Flight 932 after it passed theInstrument Landing System ’s ( ILS ) out marker . At 7:36 p.m. EST , the staff observe a red glow to the west of the track . The restrainer had not made optical contact with the airplane , but he see the detonation and fervidness that ensue from the crash . ineffectual to meet the sheet , the pillar crew start parking brake subroutine . Police and fire official as well as the National Guard responded .
The National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB ) look into the smash and quickly govern out consummate neglectfulness or foul gambling :
Investigators find out no sign of any kind of ruinous failure in the structure of the airplane , its instruments or its power system of rules . They also find no serious misstep at the airport . The runway was wet due to weather , but the flight of stairs work party make out about its condition and had adjust their descent to correct . Although it was raining and cold , airport personnel reported a visibility of five mile ( eight klick ) until just after the crash . The rail light and telling beacons were all functioning .
However , because of the nature of the terrain around the airport , it did not have aglide slopeas part of its ILS . A glide side transmit a signal to the aircraft to help the airplane pilot verify that the plane settle at the proper angle . Because of the absence of the glide side , the landing place was considered anon - precision legal document approaching . The airport was allowed to operate without a slide slope , but without it , pilot had one less tool for set down safely .
Investigators also decree out the height of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree as a factor . The trees were too tall according to the Federal Aviation Regulations in use at the clock time . However , these regulations were used for administrative purposes , like apportion money or notifying the public of structure . The height of the trees did not violate the U.S. Standard for Terminal Instrument Procedure ( TERPS ) . In other words , under normal consideration , the pinnacle of the trees should not have affected a planer ’s ability to bring down .
The NTSB ’s final depth psychology was that the aeroplane had crashed because it was below theMinimum Descent Altitude(MDA ) . In other word , it crashed because it was too close to the ground while fall . But the NTSB was not able to determine precisely why the plane was vanish too modest . Investigators contract it down to two possibilities . According to the accident report , " the two most likely account are ( a ) improper use of cockpit instrumentation data point , or ( b ) an altimetry system error " [ rootage : NTSB Aircraft Accident Report ] . In other words , either the instruments were functioning wrongly or the fender and first police officer were using their data falsely .
We ’ll look at these two possibilities in more detail in the next subdivision .
“We Are Marshall”: Analyzing the Data of Flight 932
During the probe , the NTSB analyze the aeroplane ’s official document as well as the gang ’s behavior . The aeroplane was understandably fly too low , and the NTSB wanted to determine why . In addition , the flying data recorder ( FDR ) prove the planing machine twice overshoot and then correcting its pace of decline . This suggest that the pilot light may have been repair for incorrect instrument readings .
Officials conducted across-the-board tests on the planes’barometric altimeters . The analysis revealed that both the pilot ’s and the first officer ’s instrument may have misfunction . They seemed to report that the airplane was 300 metrical unit ( 91.4 meters ) higher than it really was . However , the impact of the clank may have induce both altimeter to report incorrect altitudes .
Another theory was that the pilot and first officeholder were using their receiving set altimeter to determine the aeroplane ’s altitude . A radio altimeter works basically the same way asradar . It measures the amount of time it takes for wireless wave to move around to the ground and back . But in very hilly or spotty terrain , like the area of West Virginia where the plane crashed , radio altimeter could give inaccurate reading . The pilot and first ship’s officer would have known this from their breeding . The NTSB investigators reported that the usance of radio altimeter on approach to the airport was possible , but not likely .
Regardless of precisely why the woodworking plane was flying too low , the pilot and first officer were credibly completely unaware that it was doing so . The first officer ’s callouts as recorded in the cockpit vocalization recorder ( CVR ) were systematically higher than the mensuration enter in the plane ’s FDR . It is unclear whether the pilot verified the callouts on his own instruments or whether he relied on the first military officer ’s reading .
In accession , accord to the conversations put down by CVR , the crew believe the plane was on a normal downslope to the aerodrome . The pilot and first officer did not note any cause for concern other than a minor yield with the automatic pilot . It appeared to capture a glide gradient signal even though the airport had no soaring slope . The pilot also remarked that the autopilot seemed sluggish . research worker did not trust that the pilot program was using the automatic pilot incorrectly or that the autopilot do the clangoring .
The CVR also recorded a scuttlebutt from the flight of stairs ’s charter coordinator , a Southern Airways employee who was in the cockpit just before the clangoring . The flight coordinator ’s duties required him to spill to the pilot , so he was allowed to be in the cockpit . Shortly before the collapse , he remarked,“Bet’ll be a missed overture . " Investigators believed that he noticed that the plane was draw near MDA but had not made visual liaison with the airdrome . This would require the airplane to level off and turn around . The FDR data indicate that the pilot sample to do just that before strike the trees .
The NTSB found a few points at which the pilot or first officer did not strictly stand by to landing function on approach to Tri - State Airport . For example , it appear that the airplane pilot attempted to level off off only after he arrive at minimum descent altitude . Doing so would permit the plane to pass through MDA and persist in to descend while it dismantle off . However , since the tops of the trees were more than 300 feet below MDA , leveling off earlier would not belike have preclude the crash . In fact , the only thing that would most likely have keep the collapse was a glide slope at the airport . Tri - State aerodrome set up a glide slope using Union funds in 1972 .
The smash rent the lives of everyone on circuit board — the pilot film , the first officer , two flight attendant , the charter coordinator , 24 Marshall University football fans , nine coaches and 37 players . We ’ll calculate at what pass to the Marshall University football program as a final result next .
Rebuilding Marshall University Football
Even before the 1970 season , Marshall University ’s football programme had experienced some trouble . The team had a poor phonograph recording in the 1960s , include time of year with no winning games . In 1962 , its stadium was decry for health and safety gadget violations . In 1969 , the Mid - American Conferenceexpelled Marshallfrom its ranks because of over 100 recruiting infraction . At the time of the crash , Marshall was part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) but was on probation due to the same allegations .
By 1970 , the school day had made some improvement . Fairfield Stadium had undergo a full renovation , and its playing flying field had smart AstroTurf . Although 1970 was not a come through time of year , the squad ’s last biz against East Carolina University was airless . Marshall lose with a grade of 14 to 17 .
The crash bear on both the University and the surrounding community . After the crash , government offices and local business were closed . The University offset many activities and hold a memorial service at the stadium on Sunday , Nov. 15 . It also call off Monday ’s classes . Funeral and memorial service pack place over the following weeks . The consistence of six football players that could not be identified were buried together at Spring Hill Cemetery , which overlooks the Marshall campus .
On March 17 , 1971 , Jack Lengyel became Marshall University ’s new football coach . Assistant Coach Alfred " Red " Dawson , who had made the misstep back to West Virginia by car , returned to double-decker for one yr . With the help of other surviving faculty and staff members , they start forgather a new football squad .
They started with the players who had not been on board the flight of stairs because of injuries , academic conflicts and other ground . To these players , they summate athletes who fiddle other sports . The schooling also quest permit from the NCAA to allow freshman to play , which the NCAA granted . Lengyel renamed the squad the Young thunder Herd until it recover its original four - twelvemonth class complex body part .
The Young Thundering Herd lose its first biz , which was against Morehead . But it advance its second plot — its first domicile game — against Xavier University with a grudge of 15 to 13 . The team gain one other game in the 1971 season .
The Thundering Herd commence to have advance seasons in 1984 . Marshall dally in the NCAA Division I - AA playoff in 1987 and the Southern Conference football game championship in 1988 . In 1992 and 1996 , Marshall was the NCAA Division I - AA champion . The squad moved into Division I - A in 1997 and won its first bowl game in 1998 .
The 1970 disaster is still a part of aliveness at Marshall and in the city of Huntington . An annual memorial ceremonial take place at the Memorial Student Center Fountain , which was dedicated on Nov. 12 , 1972 . After this ceremonial , the school turns off the weewee in the fountain until spring .
In addition to the 2006 pic " We Are Marshall , " the infotainment " ash tree to Glory " and the book " Real Tragedy , Real Triumph : True Stories and Images from the Crash and Rebirth of Marshall University Football " tell the floor of the Marshall University football team . See the connectedness on the next pageboy for more data about the Marshall University air calamity , " We Are Marshall " and related to topics .
