DENVER -- Representatives of Oklahoma State University joined sheriff's officials and firefighters on Thursday to mark the 10th anniversary of a plane crash that killed 10 people from the school's basketball program.
The plane was one of three returning to Stillwater after a game against Colorado in Boulder when it crashed on ranch land about 40 miles east of Denver on Jan. 27, 2001. It took off in light snow and crashed about 35 minutes later.
Reserve players Dan Lawson and Nate Fleming were killed, along with sports information employee Will Hancock, director of basketball operations Pat Noyes and trainer Brian Luinstra.
Also killed were student manager Jared Weiberg, broadcast engineer Kendall Durfey, KWTV broadcaster Bill Teegins, pilot Denver Mills and co-pilot Bjorn Fahlstrom.
A white post topped with a basketball now marks the spot where the plane crashed between the towns of Byers and Strasburg on Colorado's eastern plains. A memorial including photos of the 10 people who died stands nearby on land now owned by the university.
Kelli Englesman, the wife of Adams County Undersheriff Roger Englesman, who responded to the crash, arrived before the ceremony to clean the memorial and place fresh roses below the photo of each man.
As about 40 people from the surrounding community watched, representatives of OSU, the sheriff's department and the Strasburg fire district placed three wreaths at the memorial on land now owned by the university.
Former OSU vice president for administration, David Bosserman, led the team that investigated the crash and has returned to Colorado for each anniversary. His former executive assistant, Nancy Horner, physical plant director Rick Krysiak and Leon Jones from the campus police department have joined him for each trip.
Bosserman said he comes to honor both those who died and their families.
"We remember them as we remember their loved ones who fell here," he said after the ceremony.
The plane that crashed, a Beechcraft King Air 200, was donated by a university booster. After the crash, Bosserman said the university changed its travel policy and now hires a firm to check out the condition of any plane used by its teams.
Juanita Sheeley, associate director for travel and insurance with the NCAA, told the Tulsa World that officials at most colleges also reviewed their travel policies after the OSU crash.
Those who died in the crash were also remembered during a halftime ceremony during Wednesday night's game against Texas. On Thursday at 6:37 p.m. CST, the time of the crash, the OSU library carillon was set to toll 10 times to honor those who died.
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