The California Polytechnic State University football team plane crash occurred on October 29, 1960, at 22:02 EST near Toledo, Ohio. The aircraft, a veteran of World War II, was carrying the Cal Poly Mustangs

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

team.CAB Accident Investigation Report, SA-360 File No. 1-0047
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/ref> Of the 48 on board, 22 were killed, including both pilots, 16 players, a student manager, and a Cal Poly football booster.

Investigation

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) investigated the accident and concluded that the

Curtiss C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a twin-engine transport aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurised high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company pub ...

aircraft had been overloaded by above its maximum certificated gross takeoff weight of and that there was a partial power loss in the left engine prior to the crash. Prior to takeoff the weather at the airport steadily deteriorated: at 7 p.m. the visibility was 3/4-mile (1.2 km); down to 1/16-mile (100 m) at 8:37 p.m.; and zero at the time of the accident, 22:02 EST. The CAB accident report states that stemming from the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published a notice in the Airman's Guide that prohibited takeoff for commercial aircraft when the visibility is below 1/4 mile (400 m), or the runway visual range is below . In its final report, the CAB Probable Cause statement was "The accident was due to loss of control during a premature lift-off. Contributing factors were the overweight aircraft, weather conditions, and partial loss of power in the left engine."

Aftermath

The pilot who made the decision to take off was flying on a certificate that had been revoked, but he was allowed to fly pending an appeal. Following the crash, the Arctic-Pacific Company lost its certificate to charter airplanes. Among the survivors was quarterback Ted Tollner, later the head coach at

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and San Diego State. At the time of the crash, Bowling Green State had been the easternmost opposing school ever to play football against Cal Poly. The university canceled the final three games of the 1960 season.

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coach John Madden, a Cal Poly alumnus who played for the Mustangs during the 1957 and 1958 seasons, had a fear of flying, which was commonly attributed to the crash, although he said it instead stemmed from claustrophobia. Madden was coaching at the nearby Allan Hancock Junior College at the time of the crash and knew many passengers aboard the aircraft. As a result of the crash, Cal Poly did not play any road games outside California until 1969, a 14–0 loss at Montana in Missoula. Cal Poly did not play another game east of the Rocky Mountains until 1978, a 17–0 loss to Winston-Salem State in North Carolina in the NCAA Division II playoffs. They did not play another regular season game east of the Rockies until 1989, a 45–20 loss to

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in Texas. Two weeks afterward, ''

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'' published an article, "Campus Overwhelmed by Team's Tragic Flight". In April 2001, the tragedy was examined in an ESPN ''

Outside the Lines ''Outside the Lines'', or also referred to as ''OTL'', is an American television program on ESPN that looks "outside the lines" and examines critical issues in mostly American sports on and off the field of play. The primary host of the show is ...

'' monthly special focusing on the evolution and frequency of travel in collegiate and pro sports. The segment, entitled "Have Game, Will Travel," included an interview with Tollner conducted by Lisa Salters.

Mercy Bowl

In the following season on Thanksgiving Day 1961,

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Supervisor

Warren Dorn A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Anglo ...

and Bob Hope sponsored a " Mercy Bowl" in the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...

between Fresno State and Bowling Green State to raise a memorial fund for the survivors and bereaved families. The event raised about $200,000 from a crowd of 33,000 on November 23. Fresno State defeated Bowling Green in the game, 36–6. In 2008 interviews with ESPN, several former Cal Poly players expressed interest in seeing the Mercy Bowl return for various contemporary charitable causes. Similar sentiments were expressed in a 2012 ESPN story about the game potentially returning in relation to other modern bowl games.

Campus memorials at Cal Poly

There are memorial plaques for the crash on the Cal Poly campus at Mott Gym and the Mustang horse statue. A permanent memorial plaza opened with the new

Alex G. Spanos Stadium Mustang Memorial Field, formerly known as Mustang Stadium and then Alex G. Spanos Stadium, is an 11,075-seat multi-purpose stadium located on the campus of California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo, California. It&nbs ...

. The memorial has 18 copper pillars, one for each of the Cal Poly-affiliated individuals who died in the crash. Each pillar rises to the height of the person honored and is adorned with a plaque about that individual's life. On September 29, 2006, the 1960 football team was inducted into the Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame. The following night, former players and members of the crash victims' families stood at mid-field of Spanos Stadium during a halftime memorial.

References

External links

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Mustang Memorial Plaza
(PDF) – Dedication ceremony photos {{DEFAULTSORT:Cal Poly Football Team Plane Crash Cal Poly Mustangs football Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1960 Airliner accidents and incidents in Ohio History of Toledo, Ohio Lucas County, Ohio 1960 in sports in California 1960 in sports in Ohio 1960 in California 1960 in Ohio October 1960 events in the United States Aviation accidents and incidents involving sports teams Accidents and incidents involving the Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando Transportation in Toledo, Ohio