When the National Transportation Safety Board issued its final report recently on a January 2001 plane crash that killed 10 people associated with the Oklahoma State University men's basketball team, it closed the book on an incident school officials never want to see repeated.

But Oklahoma State was working to prevent another incident long before the investigation was completed. Not long after the ill-fated charter flight went down on its return from a game against the University of Colorado, Boulder, Oklahoma State officials assembled a team of university and athletics administrators, risk-management personnel, travel safety experts and representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to begin the arduous but worthwhile project of creating a comprehensive policy that would protect anyone who travels as part of the institution's athletics teams.

That policy, issued in April 2002, has earned acclaim from anyone who has seen it -- including the NTSB -- for its breadth and attention to detail. But while such a project may have helped the school begin to heal from the tragedy, it also opened some eyes to the fact that few universities, if any, had similar plans in place at the time the Oklahoma State group was looking for advice. Now that the policies have been implemented, Oklahoma State administrators are offering -- and encouraging -- the plan as a model for their NCAA peers to use.

So is the NTSB. In a January 21 letter to NCAA President Myles Brand, the NTSB applauded Oklahoma State's effort and encouraged the NCAA to review the new policy and "develop, either independently or jointly, a model policy for member institutions to use in creating a travel policy or strengthening an existing policy."

In the same letter, the NTSB acknowledged concern that "colleges and universities may not be providing adequate oversight for athletics team travel." NTSB officials cited Oklahoma State's new policy as a "comprehensive travel management system that promotes safe university-sponsored team travel and provides the necessary oversight to ensure that transportation services are carried out in accordance with the provisions of the revised policy."

In his response to the NTSB, Brand agreed that the Oklahoma State policy could serve as a model for NCAA institutions. He has charged the existing travel policies subcommittee of the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet with using it to develop a series of guidelines aimed at providing safe travel for student-athletes and institutional representatives. The subcommittee, which will add representatives from Divisions II and III for this review, has been asked to provide these guidelines by January 2004 to all member institutions for adaptation to their specific needs.

More than travel procurement

To be sure, developing the Oklahoma State policy was not easy. Terry Don Phillips, now the athletics director at Clemson University (but AD at Oklahoma State when the school launched its review), and his successor, Harry Birdwell, knew they had a tough challenge ahead in the months after the accident.

"Universities and athletics departments are special communities in that they are bound together by common interests. It's devastating inside these departments to have to deal with the remorse, guilt and loss, and pick up the pieces after a tragedy like this," said Birdwell, who was an Oklahoma State vice-president when the review began.

"Part of what you try to do is come up with something that honors the lives of those lost. One way to do that as a university is to develop a policy that assures every student-athlete, and every parent of a student-athlete, that safety is the primary factor in all our team travel."

To do that, the Oklahoma State team drew upon every resource it could think of, from athletics and university administrators to travel experts who deal with safety issues every day. The team even included members of the victims' families, which Birdwell and others said sometimes made the meetings emotionally charged but in the end more productive.

"They all wanted the positive legacy for their loved ones as well," Birdwell said.

But when the group went looking for existing advice, they were surprised how little they found. Birdwell said the group contacted 70 athletics departments at six major conferences in an attempt to use what others had done in the past.

"To our great surprise and almost shock, only three had any reference to safety checks in advance of travel," he said. "Most intercollegiate athletics travel policies we examined dealt with record-keeping, accounting and payment of per diem more than safety."

The Oklahoma State policy changes that. The stated purpose of the policy (which Oklahoma States features prominently on its athletics Web site at www.okstate.com) is "to provide a framework for safe and efficient athletics team travel." The policy addresses five modes of transportation: automobiles/minivans, 12- and 15-passenger vans, buses, minibuses (20- to 30-passenger transports) and aircraft. The policy puts the school's athletics director (or a designee) in charge of verifying that whatever mode is used complies with the policy. Coaches are responsible for developing their travel plans for the season, including the recommended transportation mode, and obtaining written approval in advance. The policy also indicates that any coach or athletics department member who knowingly violates the policy will be suspended until an investigation is completed, and that violations may result in disciplinary action or termination.

Prominent in the policy is the use of an aviation consultant. The policy recommends that such an individual or firm must have "expertise in operations, safety and certification for the purpose of evaluating the certifications and safety records of charter air carriers, time-share and other aircraft and assure pilot certifications are in keeping with this policy."

Clemson's Phillips said this is vital, especially in Division I where charter travel is common.

"In air charter services, a charter company is a charter company is a charter company," Phillips said. "They meet certain regulations and therefore they're presumed safe to fly. For the most part, that's correct, but if you have three charter companies that have bid on your business, then the use of a consultant will most probably detail it better than you can as far as safety records and what you can expect from each company. It provides a significant margin to help you make a decision."

The policy includes so many specific guidelines, in fact, that little could fall through the cracks, which is what Oklahoma State administrators were after. "We probably did a more thorough job than any other Division I institution that we contacted, and obviously it was born from the tragedy we suffered," Birdwell said. "There would be some who'd say that we're using the belt and suspenders to make sure the pants don't fall, but we're dealing with human lives and with the stewardship that has been given to us by mothers and dads of the sons and daughters who play in our sports programs."

"I believe the OSU policy is very thorough and detailed," said Bill Hancock, longtime NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship administrator and currently a consultant to the event. Hancock's son, Will, was among the victims of the Oklahoma State accident.

"Once the despair mellowed a bit -- and that took a long, long time -- my challenge when the Oklahoma State people asked me to be part of the policy-making group was trying to see it not only as a parent but also as a person who has spent his career in college athletics.

"I do understand the dilemmas schools face as they send young people all around the country to compete: safety issues, financial issues, convenience issues, missed class time issues, competitive issues -- but compared with safety, all ther priorities are absolutely insignificant."

Two months after Oklahoma State completed its work on the policy, Birdwell led a presentation about it at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention last June. That generated interest among Birdwell's peers, many of whom have contacted Oklahoma State administrators about the process they went through and the product they built.

And though most athletics administrators acknowledge the challenges with developing a national policy, especially given the diversity in travel needs among institutions, nearly all agree that there's something in the Oklahoma State policy for everyone.

"If nothing else, what we've required for drivers for vans and buses -- the certification standards for drivers and safety standards for vehicles -- are relevant for every athletics department in America," Birdwell said. "Virtually everyone in the country takes 12- and 15-passenger vans for travel. There are lots of institutions over time that have allowed student-athletes to drive other student-athletes. Our policy doesn't permit that."

The NTSB letter also acknowledged the diversity of institutions. In addition, it acknowledged that Oklahoma State's former air transportation policy was not causal to the accident. But the NTSB said "the adoption of a comprehensive team travel policy, such as the one developed by Oklahoma State, would ensure the necessary oversight for athletics team and other school-sponsored travel and would provide an extra margin of safety for students, faculty and staff."

Phillips said that while schools have individual issues when it comes to travel, each would be very well-served to review their own policies within the context of the Oklahoma State policy.

"Schools may look at their policy and come to the conclusion that it's adequate, but they at least had the opportunity to look at it against a school that in the aftermath of a tremendous tragedy formed a policy that looked toward the enhancement of safety and not just procurement of travel," he said.

Hancock added a personal plea, saying that every school should adopt something similar, not only in terms of paper on file but in terms of action. He said, "I know you get in a hurry and you say, 'We've got to send these kids to the other side of the state -- let's just do it.' And people might be banging on your door saying, 'Hey, I need to go right now. We'll be careful and nothing will happen. Can't we just violate the policy this one time?'

"Well, no, you can't. There are 10 families at Oklahoma State that will never be the same. If this policy can keep even one more family from crossing that line, then it will be a good thing."

Oklahoma State policy summary

The following guidelines are included among Oklahoma State University's comprehensive team travel policies. The complete report can be found on the university's athletics Web site at okstate.
ocsn.com/genrel/061802aaa.html.

Automobiles/minivans

Drivers must be at least 21 years old, have a valid and approved driver's license and be rested.

A qualified, paid driver must be used if traveling farther than 350 miles one way, or if the trip is expected to extend later than 2 a.m., or overnight.

12- and 15-passenger vans

Drivers are required to obtain a certification from an Emergency Vehicle Operator's Course in the type of vehicle they will be driving.

Drivers must have a class C(P) commercial driver's license whether or not required by law.

Drivers must submit to a health check as required by the license or, upon hiring, must pass a medical exam and pass an annual exam thereafter.

Only vans with a 155-inch wheelbase will be allowed to transport teams greater than 100 miles from a point of departure. In cases when it is necessary to lease vans from a commercial vendor or when vans are provided as a courtesy, team travel is authorized even if the van does not meet the 155-inch criteria, but travel will be limited to 100 miles one way.

Twelve-passenger vans shall be loaded with no more than eight passengers and equipment. Fifteen-passenger vans shall be loaded with no more than 10 passengers and equipment.

* When more than 20 passengers are part of the land travel party, a bus or minibus shall be used.

Buses may be used to transport to away venues, transport to hotels from airports, and transport from hotels to playing venues.

Approved buses for team transport are motor coach common carriers or institution-leased, owned or operated over-the-road bus transports.

Air transportation

Commercial air carriers, charter, time-share and other aircraft may be used for the purposes stated.

Commercial airlines are an acceptable means of travel for athletics teams. Tickets must be procured under the travel guidelines established by the state of Oklahoma.

All air travel, except the use of commercial air carriers, shall be subject to the review of the institution's aviation consultant. Such individual or firm must have expertise in operations, safety and certification for the purpose of evaluating the certifications and safety records of charter air carriers, time-share and other aircraft and assure pilot certifications are in keeping with this policy.

Before flying, the institutional aviation consultant must assure that charter companies, time-share companies, other aircraft and all pilots flying other aircraft meet the requirements of this policy. The aviation consultant shall maintain a qualified list of time-share and other aircraft for possible use.

The aviation consultant shall assure the athletics director or his/her designee that written verification has been received for all charter flights from the FAA Flight Standards District Office that an Air Carrier Operating Certificate has been filed and is being maintained in good standing.

Aircraft owners/operators shall furnish proof of insurance in advance. Liability insurance should be at least $25 million for light turboprop aircraft, $50 million for light jet aircraft, and a minimum of $3 million per seat for commercial airlines.