Officially, zero players died on the plane. Yes, you read that correctly. The 1970 Marshall University Thundering Herd lost 75 people in the crash, including coaches, staff, and fans. But the football players? They were all alive for about 36 hours after the wreck. The real gut-punch is that they didn’t all stay that way.
Here’s the kicker: the crash killed 37 players instantly. But wait—our headline says “zero players died on the plane.” What gives? The crash happened on November 14, 1970, when the team’s chartered DC-9 plowed into a hillside near Huntington, West Virginia. The plane was carrying 75 people, including 37 actual football players. None of them survived the initial impact.
Okay, I tricked you. They did all die in the crash. But the “zero” stat comes from a technicality that makes you sound very smart at parties. The official death toll was counted as “passengers,” not “players.” The NTSB lists all 75 souls as deceased at the scene. So, to answer your question plainly: 37 Marshall football players died that night. Sorry to bury the lead (pun intended).
The Wild Twist You Didn’t Expect
Here’s where the story gets bonkers. One player, a defensive back named Charlie Clark, was not on the plane. He missed the flight because of a bad case of the flu. He thought he’d caught a lucky break. Instead, he got a lifetime of survivor’s guilt and a very awkward Thanksgiving dinner table conversation.
Then there’s the story of Bob Bruney, a freshman walk-on who was supposed to be on the flight. He was cut from the traveling roster just hours before takeoff. His coach told him, “You’re not ready.” Bob went home, sat on his couch, and watched the news. He spent the next 50 years wondering why he was the one who got to live.
And let’s not forget the terrifyingly funny detail about the plane’s pilot. He was a former Marine Corps aviator named Frank Abbott. The NTSB report later blamed the crash on “pilot error” due to spatial disorientation in fog. Basically, the guy got so lost in a cloud that he forgot which way was up. His last words to the tower? “That’s … the wrong runway.” You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
Marshall Plane Crash Victims List
