EVANSVILLE — Tragedy struck the community of Evansville on Dec. 13, 1977, when a plane carrying the men's basketball team crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 29 on board. The team was headed from the Evansville Regional Airport to the Nashville International Airport in Tennessee. The Purple Aces were scheduled to play the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. The DC-3 crashed roughly 90 seconds after takeoff. David Furr (Deceased) had an ankle injury at the time and did not board the doomed flight. However, tragedy struck again just two weeks after the plane crash when Furr and his brother Byron D. Furr (1961-1977) were killed in a car crash northeast of Newton on December 27, 1977.