2, 1970, a plane carrying players and staff of the WSU football team took off from a Colorado airport after refueling and was bound for Logan, Utah for a game against Utah State University. It flew into a mountain valley too narrow to enable it to turn back and smashed into a mountainside, killing 31 of the 40 players, administrators, and fans near a ski resort 40 miles (64 km) away from Denver.
== Notable alumni and faculty ==
Many notable businessmen have studied at WSU, including the founders of Pizza Hut Dan and Frank Carney, and Garmin founder Gary Burrell. Notable scientists include Mona Nemer, who served as the Canadian Chief Science Advisor. Notable engineers include Harold G. White, lead in NASA's Advanced Propulsion Physics Laboratory, and Dwane Wallace, President and Chairman of Cessna. In the arts, graduates included opera stars Joyce DiDonato and Samuel Ramey, actor Shirley Knight and Broadway performer Karla Burns. In athletics, notable individuals include basketball players Antoine Carr and …
