on october 2, 1970, the first plane carrying players and staff of the wsu football team took off from a colorado airport after refueling. it was supposed to go to logan, utah for a game against utah state university. it flew into a mountain valley too narrow to allow it to turn back. it crashed into a mountainside. this killed 31 of the 40 players, administrators and fans near a ski resort away from denver. president richard nixon sent the president of the university a note which read, "our thoughts and prayers go out to you in this time of sorrow."