The Famous Boxer Rocky Marciano Was Killed Today In a Plane Crash

August 31, 1969, Famous Boxer Rocky Marciano was on his way home for a birthday party in his honor when the single engine aircraft that he was flying crashed 2 miles south of Newton Airport. The conditions: Night and heavy rain. All three passengers onboard were killed. The aircraft was a Cessna 172H and it was a charter flight. 

Name of airport - Newton Muni Departure point Chicago, Ill intended destination – Desmoines, Iowa. Type of accident collision with ground/water: In flight: uncontrolled descent. Probable cause (s) pilot in command - attempted operation beyond experience/ability level Pilot in command - continued VFR flight into adverse weather conditions. Pilot in command -spatial disorientation Factor (s) Weather - low ceiling, weather briefing - briefed by flight service personnel, by phone weather forecast -forecast substantially correct, sky condition overcast , ceiling at accident site 1200 visibility at accident site 5 miles or over (unlimited), Precipitation at accident site.

The following is from Wikipedia: Rocky Marciano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969), born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, was the heavyweight champion of the world from 1952 to 1956. Marciano, with forty-three knockouts to his credit, remains the only heavyweight champion in boxing history to retire having won every fight in his professional career.

Although he had one professional fight (against Lee Epperson) on his record, Marciano began fighting permanently as a professional boxer on July 12, 1948. That night, he notched a win over Harry Bilizarian. He won his first sixteen bouts by knockout, all before the fifth round, and nine before the first round was over. Don Mogard became the first boxer to last the distance with "The Rock," but Marciano won by decision. Early in his career, he changed the spelling of his last name. The ring announcer in Providence, Rhode Island could not pronounce Marchegiano, so Marciano's handler, Al Weill, suggested they create a pseudonym. The first suggestion was Rocky Mack, which Marciano rejected.

He decided to go with the more Italian-sounding "Marciano". Marciano won three more fights by knockout, and then he met Ted Lowry, who, according to many scribes and witnesses, probably managed to win three or four of the ten rounds from Marciano. Nevertheless, Marciano kept his winning streak alive by beating Lowry by decision. Marciano fought Lowry again in November 1950 and it too went the scheduled ten round distance. Four more knockout wins followed his first fight with Lowry, including a five rounder on December 19, 1949 with Phil Muscato, an experienced heavyweight from Buffalo, New York, and the first "name fighter" Marciano would face. Three weeks after that fight, Marciano beat Carmine Vingo in a fifth round knockout in New York that almost killed Vingo. When Marciano next fought in late March 1950, he gained a hard-fought ten-round decision victory over the fighter who would later become his 1953 world title challenger, Roland La Starza. The victory over La Starza was extremely close. Marciano won 6-4 on all scorecards.