Pilots In Deadly Plane Crash Were Avid OSU Supporters

There were no survivors in Thursday's airplane crash which not only took the lives of OSU's women's basketball coach and his assistant coach, but also the lives of OSU alum and former state senator Olin Branstetter and his wife Paula. 

The Ponca City couple met as students at Oklahoma State University in the 1950s.  They both learned to fly when they were in their 40s and became the first family to ever fly over the North Pole in a single engine aircraft.

As they flew over the Pole, the Branstetters dropped a plaque with their names on it, letters to Santa from kids in Ponca City and a New Testament.

They created a scholarship at Oklahoma State University in honor of women in aviation.

The university said the crash happened at around 5 p.m. Thursday in the Winona Wildlife Management Area near Perryville, about 45 miles northwest of Little Rock.

Keep checking here for new developments in this story, and News On 6 viewers can watch anchor Lori Fullbright's report on News On 6 at 6 p.m.