With the help of some emergency responders who arrived on foot shortly afterward, they set about the urgent task of searching for survivors. But if the pilot does not apply more engine power, the speed will keep dropping and the angle of attack will keep increasing, causing a feedback loop which quickly leads to the plane stalling and falling out of the sky. By all accounts, Pham and Ruiz were in a hurry that night. Today is the anniversary of the 1977 plane crash that took the lives of the University of Evansville men's basketball team. He was listed in extremely critical condition with injuries to all parts of the body.. Anyone can read what you share. There were no cellphones at this time of course, but the news traveled. "I would say growing up, being an Evansville native, the Aces basketball was the thing to do on Saturday nights," says Patrick Wathen, the police reporter for The Evansville Courier in 1977. "And I became very curious as to what the rest of their story is, because of course we all know the end. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The plane was all but doomed to crash. We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. The crash of the airplane chartered by the University of Evansville basketball team continued a string of air tragedies that have involved sports clubs for number of years.. Those of teamwide impact included the crashes involving football teams from Wichita State University, Marshall University and California Polytechnic Institute and the United States Olympic Figure Skating team. Join the discussion of this article on Reddit! On the 13th of December 1977, friends and family waved goodbye to the young men of the University of Evansville basketball team, who were headed to a routine away game against Middle. The plane had only been in flight for less than two minutes when it crashed. They were good kids. Furthermore, the center of gravity the point at which the airplane will balance on a fingertip was nearly at the aft limit. Because flight 216 had lifted off before achieving the normal takeoff speed of 84 knots, it lacked the energy required to enter a stable climb. The 6-7 Duff emerged as a young star,averaging 20 points and 9.5 rebounds in those four outings. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. The locks, a set of wedge-shaped metal objects which fit into the gaps between the control surfaces and the adjacent structure to prevent them from moving, had red flags hanging off the ends to make them easy to spot. The plane took off in heavy fog and crashed about two minutes later in field near the Melody Hills subdivision northeast of the city. The crash resulted in 29 deaths, a night that is still felt almost 40 years later in the college town. EVANSVILLE, Ind. Perhaps due to his inexperience, his routine was not sufficiently well-established to effectively remind him.