Berringer Killed in Crash

Brook Berringer, the backup quarterback who helped Nebraska win the 1994 national title, was killed Thursday when the small plane he was piloting crashed in a farm field.

Plane owner Harry Barr said the other person killed in the two-seater was Toby Lake, the brother of Berringer’s girlfriend.

Berringer, 22, who was expected to be selected in the NFL draft this weekend, held a pilot’s license and often flew the plane, Barr said. Berringer had often said he wanted to be a commercial airline pilot.

The 50-year-old plane struggled to a height of 250 feet before crashing into the alfalfa field near this east-central Nebraska village minutes after takeoff from a grass airstrip.

Berringer had been scheduled to speak Thursday night at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet at the Devaney Center in Lincoln, where players and fans hugged one another when they learned of the crash.

“Brook would want this event to go on as planned,” Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne said at the banquet. “I know he would want it to be done in the spirit with which it was intended--to honor God. Brook honored God. Brook enjoyed life to the fullest.”

Gov. Ben Nelson called Berringer a leader and role model who “touched our lives with his skill.”

“The last time I saw Brook we talked about going hunting together,” Nelson said. “Brook talked a lot about what Nebraska has done for him. I believe he gave more back to us.”

The plane, which Barr has owned for about 15 years, crashed about one-eighth of a mile from the airstrip.

The National Weather Service said northwesterly winds were gusting to about 30 mph on the ground.

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner said the pilot did not issue a distress call before the 2:30 p.m. crash. Berringer was not required to file a flight plan, and air traffic controllers weren’t following the flight. Small, private aircraft do not have to file flight plans.

Berringer was 7-0 as a starter during the 1994 season when Tommie Frazier was sidelined with blood clots in his leg. Berringer and Frazier both played in the Orange Bowl against Miami, but it was Frazier who led the Cornhuskers to a 24-17 comeback victory in the fourth quarter.

Berringer of Goodland, Kan., played sparingly behind Frazier last season when Nebraska won its second consecutive national title with a 62-24 rout of Florida in the Fiesta Bowl. Berringer scored the Cornhuskers’ final touchdown in that game.

He was to have graduated in December with a major in business administration.

Barr said Berringer had been flying for about three years, had flown between 100-150 hours and flew the plane about twice a month.

“It was just a little airplane that he would fly around locally in,” Barr said. “He would never get more than three or four miles from the airstrip.”