Section B · Page 6
---
The University Daily Kansan
.
Tuesday, January 30, 2001
Wreck investigation continues
Officials question if plane was deiced
The Associated Press
BYERS, Colo. — After spending a snowy day walking through a mile of scattered wreckage, aviation investigators focused on whether a plane used by Oklahoma State had been deiced before takeoff.
oSu
h a v e
s o m e
v e r y
detailed
a n d
painstaking work ahead of us in what are not the best weather conditions," said John Hammerschmidt, head of the National Transportation Safety Board crash investigation team, on Sunday.
Ten people, including two Oklahoma State basketball players and six staff members, were killed Saturday when the twinengine plane crashed into a field. The plane had taken off from Jefferson County Airport in light snow with a visibility of
one mile.
The crew was told ice could form on the wings, but investigators said conditions were not harsh enough for authorities to ground the plane.
Federal investigators planned yesterday to interview the maintenance crews who worked on the plane before takeoff, those who spoke with the plane's crew just before takeoff and the pilots of the two planes that arrived safely in Stillwater, Okla.
The Beechecraft King Air 200 Catpass was one of three planes carrying the school's basketball team and associates back to Stillwater after a loss to Colorado in Boulder.
No distress call was made before the crash, said Arnold Scott of the NTSB.
Among the victims were Oklahoma State players Nate Fleming and Daniel Lawson and Pay Noyes, director of basketball operations.
Will Hancock, media relations coordinator, and athletic trainer Brian Luinstra, both University of Kansas graduates, also were killed in the crash.
Hancock graduated from the University in 1991, and Lustrapt
The Big 12 Conference said Oklahoma State's game tonight at Texas Tech had been postponed indefinitely.
graduated in 1994.
Oklahoma State said its basketball schedule would be completed.
Witnesses said the plane climbed and banked hard to the right before it crashed. They told investigators the propeller plane's engines revved and eased several times before the fiery crash in a field about 40 miles east of Denver.
"It sounded like he was flying full power," said Jon Carrick, who lives about two miles from the crash site. "Then I heard a thump and saw a low glow."
Also killed was student manager Jared Weiberg, the nephew of Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg; broadcast engineer Kendall Durfey, broadcaster Bill Teegins, pilot Denver Mills and co-pilot Biorn Fahlstrom.
The victims' bodies were removed. During the next few days, the engines, de-icing boots and other pieces of the wreckage are scheduled to be taken to a hangar in Gruel, where investigators were to create a mock-up of the plane.
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas dazed by ranked teams
By Agron Johnson
The men's tennis team was caught up in a whirlwind of nationally ranked opponents last weekend.
The No. 61 Jayhawks lost to both No. 37 Louisville and No. 57 Middle Tennessee State, but managed to beat No. 48 Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday and Sunday at the Alvamar Racquet Club.
The matches moved Kansas' record to 3-2 on the season.
Yet, Kansas coach Ross Nwachukw said he was pleased with his team's competitive edge despite the loss.
The match came down to a third-set tie-breaker between Kansas' Alex Barragan and Middle Tennessee State's Mark Pellerin. Pellerin eventually pulled out the grueling victory 1-6, 6-4 (10-7) at Kansas' expense.
The Jayhawks' final match Sunday afternoon against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders marked possibly their toughest test of the weekend.
"Our guys were ready to play,
KANSAS TENNIS
we competed very hard," he said
we competed very hard.
Sunday afternoon's match also provided a marque matchup between Kansas' Rodrigo Echagaray and Middle Tennessee's Daniel Klemetz, the nation's 10th-ranked player.
Echagaray forced a tie-breaker before falling in the No. 1 singles match 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (10-1).
The matchup against Middle Tennessee was just one of three weekend matches for the Javahwaks.
Saturday began with a match against Louisville. Kansas fell 4-3 in dramatically close fashion to open the tournament.
That match was the scene for another exciting one between Blakeney and Louisville's Cody Conley. Blakeney defeated Conley in a third set tie-breaker 6-4, 4-6, 10 (14-12).
Nwachukwu said that he was impressed with Blakeney's undefeated record during the tournament.
"All the guys played real hard, especially Quentin Boney," he
said. "He played very good tennis this weekend."
Kansas earned a 4-1 victory against the Troians.
Kansas captured its lone win of the tournament in an upset against Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday night.
The second and third doubles matches secured an early point for the 'Hawks. Blakeney and Stroer defeated the Trojans' Luciano Diez and Alexe Poutchinets 8-4 while Alex Barragan and Andrew Metzler defeated Juan Carlos Baca and Mithun Murual, 8-2.
Nwachukwu expressed satisfaction with the team's conditioning and preparation going into the weekend.
"As a team we were definitely very motivated to come into the tournament and competed very hard," he said.
Kansas' next competition will be Saturday, Feb. 10 in Bloomington, Ind., against Indiana and Butler.
In doubles play, the team of Echagary and Magallan will compete in the Rolex National Indoor Championships on Wednesday, Feb. 1 through 4 in Dallas.
— Edited by Jennifer Valadez
Broaden your horizons. Study Abroad Fair
Wed., Jan. 31
10 a.m.-3 p.m.
4th Floor Kansas Union
108 Lippincott • 785.864.3742 • osa@ukans.edu • www.ukans.edu/~osa
About one drink per hour over a 5 hour period
One drink = 12 oz. beer = 4.5 oz. wine = 1-1.5 oz. liquor
- Based on survey responses from 1,459 KU students. Survey administered by the KU Office of Institutional Research & Planning (2000).
---
1