Dr. Jared Bernard Critchfield is my grandfather. My mother was 11 when the accident occurred. From what I hear and read, those on the flight were tremendous BYU supporters and were tremendous people. I imagine Dr. Critchfield was passionate about supporting BYU because of how the school and church influenced his life. He grew up in a poor family in Canada. Was the only one of his siblings to graduate high school. Attended college - BYU. Met and married a fellow BYU co-ed. Graduated from medical school. Built a family based on love, respect, faith and hard work.
Here is a link to another article that BYU put out that you may find interesting.
Here is a brief article by the UPI describing the accident.