Six weeks before the Marshall plane crash, one of 2 chartered planes carrying the Wichita State University football team, en route to a game in Logan, UT, crashed into the side of a mountain in Colorado. The plane carried the upperclassmen, the head coach, other team staff, university officials, and several boosters. Thirty-nine people died, about half of them were players. Nine people survived, including the co-pilot. The surviving team members, plus some freshman, played the remainder of the season