A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
On Feb. 15, 1961, a commercial flight carrying all 18 members of the U.S. Figure Skating team to the world championships in Prague crashed near the Brussels airport, killing everyone one board. Six coaches were also on the plane, along with four team officials and six of the group’s family members, as 73 people died in total.
The news was widely reported, and many of the skaters were known in the West as many of the athletes trained in Colorado and California.
Utah figure skaters mourned the loss of their friends. The Deseret News headlines of the day reflected the mood:
“Top U.S. skaters killed in 73-death jet crash; Airliner dives, burns at Belgium airport”
“Crash news shocks skating fans in S.L.C.”
“Crash desolates women’s champion”
“World ended in fire for queen of ice”
The last headline referred to Laurence Owen, a mere 16-year-old already known as “queen of the ice.”
Owen had just burst onto the world skating scene, winning the U.S. title a week earlier. She was considered the next big star.
A repeat in 2025
And now, 63 years later, a similar plane crash a month ago revived the memories of that 1961 crash.
The sports world has had several such tragedies, and the impacts on sports programs in nations and schools and sports are felt for years after.
- In 1980 the U.S. amateur boxing team was flying from New York to Poland for competition ahead of the 1980 Moscow Olympics when their plane crashed near Warsaw. All 87 on board were killed, including 14 boxers and eight team staff members.
- In 1958, a plane carrying the Manchester United soccer team and officials crashed as it attempted to take off on a slush-covered runway in Munich. While 23 died, several survived.
- In 1970, one of two jets carrying the Wichita State football team to a game in Logan, Utah, crashed near Silver Plume, Colorado. Of the 40 on board, 31 died. A couple of months later, a jet carrying the Marshall football team crashed, killing all 75 on board.
- In 1972, a Uruguayan Air Force flight carrying the Old Christians Club from Montevideo Uruguay, to Santiago, Chile, crashed in the Andes Mountains. The wreckage was not found for two months and only 16 of the 45 people on board survived.
- Others include Evansville men’s basketball team crash in 1977, the Zambian national soccer team in 1993, the Oklahoma State men’s basketball squad in 2001, and a crash in 2011 involving a Russian pro hockey team.
Here are some stories from Deseret News archives about the 1961 crash, other air tragedies in the sports world and how we mourn such disasters:
“We know these kids:’ U.S. figure skaters lost in D.C. plane crash remembered in Utah”
“It only figures that U.S. excels”
“14 from U.S. figure skating community aboard plane that crashed near Washington, D.C.”
“Deseret News archives: Wichita State football team members killed in 1970 plane crash”
“50-year-old Mercy Bowl a dim memory now”
