Plane crashes involving
Oklahoma State University

27 January 2001; Jet Express Services Beechcraft King Air; N81PF near Strasburg, CO: All eight passeners, including two Oklahoma State University basketball players, an OSU basketball executive and five staffers and broadcasters associated with the program were killed when their plane crashed in rolling terrain shortly after takeoff from the Jefferson County airport near Denver, CO. The two crew members were also killed. The chartered aircraft was bound for Stillwater, Oklahoma when it took off during snowy conditions.

This aircraft was one of three that were transporting members of the Oklahoma State University basketball team and associated team personnel to Stillwater Regional Airport, Stillwater, Oklahoma, after a game at the University of Colorado at Boulder that afternoon.

After the 2001 crash, OSU changed their travel policies for student athletes, including rules requiring two pilots to be on board for all OSU travel involving student athletes and aircraft to be powered by two or more turbine engines. However, these policy changes did not apply to recruiting trips involving only coaches.

Related Information
NTSB Report number: DCA01MA017
NTSB factual report
NTSB probable cause
NTSB docket for this accident
NTSB full accident report (NTSB/AAR-03-01)

17 November 2011; Piper Cherokee; N7746W; near Perryville, AR: Oklahoma State University (OSU) women's basketball coach Kurt Budke, assistant women's basketball coach Miranda Serna, the pilot, and one other passenger were killed in a crash that took place about 40 miles northwest of Little Rock, AR. The coaches were heading to Little Rock on a recruiting trip at the time of the crash.

While the aircraft was privately owned, the plane's pilot was a certified commercial pilot. The pilot, a former Oklahoma state senator, was an OSU alumnus and donor, but had not previously flown OSU coaches prior to the accident flight.

Related Information
NTSB Report number: CEN12FA072
NTSB factual report
NTSB probable cause
NTSB docket for this accident

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