Cal Poly Plane Crash Sixty Years Ago: Another Look Back
10/29/2020 12:01:00 AM | Football
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By Eric Burdick
Associate Director of Athletics for Communications, Cal Poly
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Sixty years ago today, Cal Poly experienced an unwanted, unexpected and unfathomable first.
On October 29, 1960, a twin-engine Curtiss Wright Super C-46F Commando, a World War II surplus military transport plane, crashed shortly after takeoff from Toledo Express Airport in northwest Ohio, killing 16 Mustang football players, the student manager, a team booster and four others, including both pilots.
Twenty-six other passengers survived -- 19 players, all four coaches, the team physician and the flight attendant. Telegram-Tribune sports editor Johnny Nettleship recovered from his serious injuries as well.
The Cal Poly accident grabbed national headlines as it was the first crash of a chartered plane carrying an entire athletic team and, at the time, it was the worst sports air disaster in history.
There was plenty of blame to go around and gross negligence surrounding the accident:
Cal Poly football team boards Arctic Pacific C-46F Commando bound for Toledo, Ohio.
• Fog so thick that players walking on the tarmac couldn't see the plane 40 feet in front of them.
• An uncertified left engine which lost power during takeoff.
• A captain with a suspended license, but allowed to fly the aircraft pending an appeal.
• A plane that was overweight by more than 2,000 pounds.
Among the 16 players who died, survivors included five wives and nine dependent children.
Of the 19 Cal Poly players and four coaches who survived, just 10 remain alive today. Only nine players are still with us after Jim Fahey, who coached wrestling at two junior high schools for 30 years, died in Gilroy four months ago. The lone coach still alive is Walt Williamson, who served as an athletics director and head track and field coach at Cal State Los Angeles for many years and currently is on the faculty at Alabama School of Mathematics and Science.
Seemingly with every anniversary story of the Cal Poly plane crash are the interviews with the survivors. Gil Stork, longtime educator and a sophomore center on the 1960 squad, and Carl Bowser, a fullback who coached football in the Bakersfield area for over 30 years and guided Bakersfield College to the 1988 national title, have carried the mantle as the unofficial spokesmen of the team.
"People will say, 'Do you mind talking about it?' I say no," said Stork. "Actually, it's a reminder just how fortunate I have been. I don't ever forget about it because it has shaped my philosophy on life and helped me become who I am. I think it's really fed my career about serving people, whether it be through education or my work with non-profit organizations."
Added Bowser, "I get a lot of questions about how many Bakersfield guys were on the plane." Six players on the 1960 team were graduates of high schools in Bakersfield -- Bowser, Larry Austin, Joel Copeland, Curtis Hill, Roger Kelly and Billy Ross. Ray Porras, who grew up in East Los Angeles, played football at Bakersfield College.
Ted Tollner hands off to Carl Bowser (L) and Ray Porras.
"In those days, Cal Poly got a lot of football players who had been recruited by other universities," Bowser said. "Coach Hughes had a great connection with all the other four-year college coaches. The word was that, if a player was decent, tell them to call Coach Hughes and set them up and and get them to come to Cal Poly."
Quarterback Ted Tollner is another survivor of the crash who went on to coach football at USC, San Diego State, BYU and, in the NFL, Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders.
"It's something that is brought up all the time and I realize it's a part of my history," Tollner said of the crash. "It doesn't bother me. I understand the human interest, but I'd rather have the interest in me be for something else."
Clark Tuthill, a defensive back at Cal Poly who coached football for 24 seasons in the Caruthers and Redding areas before retiring in 1990, was a redshirt in 1960 after transferring from Los Angeles Harbor College. He was not on the plane but knew many of the players who died or were injured and played with 10 of the survivors in 1961.
Clark Tuthill
"We had some married guys on the team and some of them didn't make it," said Tuthill. "I talked to Al Marinai on the phone a few days after the accident and a couple other guys, Don Adams and Bob Johnson. We just kind of tried to understand what occurred."
Tuthill, who was inducted into the Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006 along with the rest of the 1960 team, attended the memorial service inside Mott Athletics Center two days after the accident.
"It was full, it was very somber," Tuthill said. "There were a lot of sad people, a lot of crying with the ladies. It was tough, it was really tough. It was an awakening experience. It was kind of a wakeup call for some people."
Stork visits Mustang Memorial Plaza every month. Bowser pays respects to two of his Bakersfield teammates every year.
"John Ramsey also was on the team but was injured and didn't travel to Ohio," said Stork. "He was a backup quarterback to Tollner and two of his roommates were killed, so he and I have been going to the plaza every month. We meet out at the memorial and it's a very healing experience just to remember our teammates and reflect on what they meant to us, but also the good fortune we've had, regardless of medical and other issues that happened, and all the blessings that have come in our lives."
Austin, Copeland and Hill, all graduates of Bakersfield High School, along with Porras lost their lives in the crash. Bowser also is a Bakersfield High alumnus.
"I think about the guys who died on that plane, more than just on the anniversaries," Bowser said. "I think about them probably once a week or so. Austin, Copeland, Hill and I -- we played football together in high school. We were very close. We were good friends, friends with their wives and friends with their children. To this day, I still miss those guys. Did a lot of things with them.
"A lot of the players didn't want to fly home (after the crash)," Bowser added. "I wanted to fly home to see the funerals for Copeland and Austin. Just emotional, very tough, sad to go through that."
Gil Stork in middle with Bob Cardoza (L), Frank Blakemon.
Stork served 51 years at Cuesta College -- his uniform number at Cal Poly, by the way; "That's why I stayed on one more year" -- retiring in 2018. His Cougar career started as a physical education instructor and assistant football coach in 1967 and ended as superintendent/president of the college for eight years.
Gil Stork
"October 29th is marked on my calendar and it's almost a countdown each year," said Stork. "What really comes to mind and is so prominent is a sense of gratitude. I am so grateful first of all for surviving, and grateful for having the life I've had, regardless of the physical challenges and the initial three- or four-year period of mental anguish and going through all the stages of survival, the anger, the why me, the challenge of my faith, survivor's guilt. I went through all of that.
"It wasn't until my first child was born and I saw that miracle of life and I said to myself, 'We don't have any control of this.' Whatever hand we're dealt, we've got to deal with it. It made me not dwell on the negatives. You can't change the past but I can influence the future.
"That's my takeaway. What I am reminded of every anniversary is that sense of gratitude. There are times I wish we could all get back together again. I know that's not realistic. We try to keep in touch. I still send Christmas cards and write notes to the guys."
After earning his bachelor's degree in physical education at Cal Poly in 1962 and his master's in education a year later, Bowser began his coaching career at Burroughs High School in Ridgecrest. He was an assistant coach in 1963 and 1964 and head coach in 1965. After one season (1966) as head coach at Shafter High School, Bowser became an assistant coach at Bakersfield College in 1967, taking over as head coach in 1984. Bowser compiled an 83-31-1 record in 11 years with the Renegades with eight conference championships, six bowl game appearances, one state title and numerous coach of the year accolades.
The Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held in Chumash Auditorium on Oct. 27, 2006, a few hours after Mustang Memorial Plaza was dedicated at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
"I can remember that it was an emotional meeting for all of us," said Bowser. "Last time I had seen some of the players was in Toledo. It was emotional just to see those guys again."
The trip originated from Oakland early the morning of Thursday, Oct. 27. Arctic Pacific picked up the Cal Poly football team in Santa Maria and the plane left at 8:11 a.m. Pacific with stops in Albuquerque and Kansas City before arriving in Toledo over 11 hours later at 12:22 a.m. Eastern on Friday, Oct. 28.
There were two pairs of pilots assigned to the series of flights. It is believed that captain Robert P. Fleming and co-pilot Lucien Tessier flew the aircraft the morning of Oct. 27 from Oakland to Santa Maria and on to Albuquerque, where they disembarked and were to remain in Albuquerque until the plane returned the evening of Oct. 29. Captain Donald L. J. Chesher and co-pilot Howard Perovich took over at the controls for the legs to Kansas City and Toledo. Fleming was erroneously listed by some media outlets initially as having died in the crash.
Later on Oct. 28, the aircraft flew on to Youngstown, Ohio, to pick up the Youngstown State football team and transport the Penguins to New Haven, Conn., for their game the next day versus Southern Connecticut State. Youngstown State won, 8-7.
The return flight on Saturday, Oct. 29, started in New Haven and Youngstown State was dropped off in Youngstown. The plane arrived in Toledo about two hours later than scheduled and the plan was to fly from Toledo to Kansas City to Albuquerque and then Santa Maria. Takeoff from Toledo for the 11.5-hour flight home was at 10:01 p.m.
The crash occurred one minute later, at 10:02 p.m.
Rear portion of aircraft shown on the morning after the crash.
The plane took off in zero visibility -- less than 1/16th of a mile -- in fog which rolled in off Lake Erie a few hours earlier. The sky was 90 percent obscured by fog, temperature was 39 degrees, dew point also was 39 degrees, the ceiling was zero and the wind was out of the east-northeast at five knots. The Civil Aeronautics Board's Aircraft Accident Report indicated that the weather conditions existed for a period of 28 minutes prior to takeoff of the C-46. All regular air carriers operating at Toledo Express Airport had canceled all inbound and outbound flights as a result of poor visibility that evening.
Said Time Magazine: "So thick was the fog that (the pilot) first scouted the concrete apron on foot to spot parked planes so he would not run into them as he taxied out. Then he got an airport mechanic to walk ahead of him and, through the mist, point the way as he inched the plane toward takeoff."
The runway's visibility transmissometer, which measures visual range, was inoperative and all aviation weather sequence reports for Toledo Express Airport from 7 p.m. until the time of the crash indicated the nonavailability of runway visibility information.
Rear portion of the plane ended up in front of burned fuselage.
Arctic Pacific Inc. minimums for takeoff from Toledo Express Airport were a 300-foot ceiling and one mile visibility or 400-foot ceiling and 3/4th-mile visibility on the sliding scale. Despite the poor weather conditions, the flight plan filed with the control tower was in order and, at the time, the pilot had the authority to make the final decision.
During the initial climb, the 15-year-old twin-engine propeller-driven airplane, which was used by the military in World War II, rose from 50 to 100 feet above the airport, was airborne for about 30 seconds, then stalled, crashed and burst in flames as much as 300 feet high on a field 1.1 miles past the runway end.
Impact of the aircraft was 5,800 feet from the threshold of the runway and 400 feet to the left of the runway's centerline. The left wing struck the taxiway adjacent to the runway first, then the left engine struck the taxiway and the aircraft cartwheeled on its nose. The aircraft broke into two sections, with the forward portion landing upright, sustaining severe impact damage and catching fire. The aft section came to rest in front of the forward section, inverted on the vertical stabilizer, showed very little impact damage and sustained no fire damage.
There were no black boxes (flight data recorder and voice cockpit recorder) on the aircraft as none was required at the time for this particular aircraft.
A total of 22 people, all but one sitting in the front of the plane, perished. The remaining 26 passengers survived, 25 of them sitting in the rear of the aircraft. Everyone in the front half of the plane died except player General Owens. Everyone in the back half survived. Due to the heavy fog, it took about 45 minutes to an hour for the first ambulances to arrive at area hospitals with the injured.
The left engine was replaced between July and October 1960 but was not certificated for use on C-46 series aircraft and was not adequately inspected internally in accordance with Civil Air regulations. During installation, the engine was modified by the installation of the carburetor and cylinder cooling baffles from the removed engine.
Maximum allowable takeoff weight for the Super C-46 from Toledo Express Airport, which opened just six years earlier, was 46,850 pounds. The actual weight at takeoff varied from 48,233 to 48,859 pounds, meaning that the aircraft was 1,383 to 2,009 pounds over the maximum allowable takeoff weight at the airport.
It also was determined that the pilot did not properly burn out his engines prior to takeoff, possibly causing 20 of the 36 spark plugs in the two engines to foul, resulting in loss of power. He had warmed up the engines for 20-25 minutes prior to takeoff.
The CAB report also noted that no en route inspections were made by the FAA of Arctic Pacific in 1960 and that there were deficiencies in Arctic Pacific's maintenance program. Before the crash, Arctic Pacific Airlines was fined $16,000 by the Federal Aviation Agency (now Federal Aviation Administration) for violations by the pilot of the doomed plane. Two days after the Toledo accident, the line's operating certificate was suspended by the FAA for gross disregard of public safety and FAA regulations. Based in Seattle and beginning operations in 1947, Arctic Pacific ultimately went out of business in late 1960.
The FAA had instructed tower operators to withhold takeoff clearance from any air carrier with passengers when the prevailing visibility is less than one-quarter of a mile or runway visual range is less than 2,000 feet. At the time of the tragedy, however, pilots were allowed to make the final decision. Captain Chesher, 38, informed the tower prior to takeoff that he could see three runway lights spaced 200 feet apart (the tower mistakenly told Chesher that there was 300 feet between the lights) for a total distance of 600 feet of runway visibility. Toledo had minimums of one mile of visibility and a 300-foot ceiling. The runway used for takeoff was 4,000 feet long.
After the crash, Arctic Pacific was immediately grounded by FAA administrator Elwood R. Quesada, citing "a gross disregard for public safety and the regulations of the FAA." The airline's FAA air carrier operating certificate expired on Nov. 14, 1960. When the investigation was completed and released on Jan. 22, 1962, the FAA revealed "at least 16 regulations had been violated by Arctic Pacific just prior to and during the brief fatal flight."
Associated Press reported the day after the crash that Arctic Pacific "recently was awarded a National Safety Council plaque for operational safety."
Chesher was 38 years old with 6,364 flying hours to his credit.
A veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force and U.S. Army Air Force during World War II, Chesher possessed a valid FAA airman certificate. On July 15, 1960, the FAA revoked his air transport rating for nearly a dozen violations of Civil Air regulations. Chesher appealed and, pending decision on the appeal, was allowed to resume flying in late October, four days prior to the series of flights from Oakland to New Haven and back. On Oct. 25, attorneys for Arctic Pacific notified the FAA that Chesher had been discharged. Chesher, however, was flying an Arctic Pacific plane two days later.
Perovich, 30, was hired by Arctic Pacific two months prior to the crash and had 3,200 hours of flying time. Perovich's mother and sister-in-law also died in the crash. Perovich had married his bride just four days prior to the trip and picked up his mother and sister-in-law in Connecticut so that they could meet his wife in Oakland upon return.
Perovich was sitting in the pilot's seat on the left side of the aircraft at the time of the crash. The bride, Angela Perovich, lost her first husband and their four children in an automobile accident several years prior to the plane crash which claimed the life of the co-pilot, her second husband.
Chesher's body was found strapped in the right-hand cockpit seat. The CAB could not determine who was actually flying the plane during takeoff.
The flight attendant, Susan Miller, a 14-year veteran as a stewardess who suffered a wrist injury, was credited with aiding about 15 persons from the crash site despite losing her shoes in the crash. She unfastened seat belts of the injured and assisted them away from the wreckage. During takeoff, she occupied the rear seat of the aircraft, which was normal. She joined Arctic Pacific about two months prior to the crash after working for Pan-American and Northwest as well as several charter companies.
One year prior to the crash, Cal Poly chartered an identical aircraft from Arctic Pacific to fly the football team to Montana State. One of that plane's two engines conked out, but luckily the craft landed safely in Bozeman (read the Johnny Nettleship item below for more on that flight).
At the time, the flight to Toledo was the longest trip Cal Poly had ever taken for a football game. The Mustangs flew without incident in a four-engine plane to Salt Lake City, Utah, for a game in Provo against Brigham Young opening the 1960 season and, in 1952, the Mustangs flew to Peoria, Ill., to play Bradley.
According to the final report issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board, the tragedy occurred as a result of loss of control during a premature liftoff. Contributing factors were the overweight aircraft, weather conditions and partial loss of power in the left engine.
As a result of the crash, several changes were adopted by the Federal Aviation Authority (now Federal Aviation Administration) and Civil Aeronautics Board (which was dissolved in 1985).
Previously pilots could not be prevented by the control tower from taking off in bad weather if they were willing to make the attempt. In the wake of the accident, the FAA ordered that air traffic controllers, rather than pilots, would authorize departures.
Permission to take off was denied to any commercial airline carrying passengers or property when runway visibility is less than one-quarter mile or visual range is less than 2,000 feet. Although the new order technically applied to all airlines, it now specifically includes non-scheduled charter flights such as the one that had carried the Cal Poly football team.
Brent Jobe, an end and student pilot, told his friends, not very positively, "We're gonna take a shot (at takeoff)" and thought it was crazy to do so. "I was dead set against the takeoff."
Jobe landed upright in a field, still buckled in his seat. He passed out from a heavy gash in his head, but not before helping teammates get out of the wreckage. A week later, Jobe returned home, taking off from the same runway. Off to the left side sat the wreckage of the C-46.
After graduation, Jobe flew missions for the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam for five years, then managed a citrus and avocado ranch in Vista, Calif. He also worked in underground construction and general engineering. Jobe married a TWA flight attendant.
Gil Stork: "I remember taxiing down the runway, the liftoff, the engine quitting and a dipping sensation. The next thing I remember is the sound of sirens waking me up. I was lying on the runway and the next thing I was aware of was my shoes were gone.
"I was in the hospital 21-and-a-half weeks. I had broken vertebrae, separated sternum, injured hips, bad cuts and broken teeth. I have arthritic hips now (he has had six hip replacement surgeries, three on each side; the last one was in 2011).
"I guess I'll never get over the quirks of the seating arrangements. I think of the guys who died and I think, 'If I'd been sitting there, or there, or there ...'. You view life a little differently after going through something like that.
"You hear people talk about long-range planning in their lives. Well, you just can't count on things like that. Life takes care of itself. I've got a beautiful wife, five beautiful children and 10 grandchildren. I love watching them grow. I've decided the only thing that matters in this life is how you relate to the people you love."
Stork sat out the 1961 season because of his injuries but returned to the team in 1962 and was a captain of the 1963 Mustang squad. He is currently battling an infection throughout his body, fighting it with four months of antibiotics, and may need a knee implant in the near future.
Don Adams was a half back and guard on the football team and also excelled in wrestling and boxing. He took a leave of absence to serve in the U.S. Army before returning to Cal Poly. Many feel he was the best boxer to ever compete for Cal Poly, earning All-American honors and recognized as the outstanding boxer in the Cal Poly tournament in both 1958 and 1959.
Adams was fourth in the 1957 NCAA Championships at 178 pounds and is in Cal Poly's Athletics Hall of Fame as a boxer as well as a member of the 1960 football team. He was a teacher and football and wrestling coach at Modesto and Hughson high schools in the San Joaquin Valley. He once shared ownership in a sporting goods store and grew walnuts.
"I bled so much, they said I was dead," Adams told the Los Angeles Times in 2010. "Then someone double-checked me and said, 'No, there's something there.' I remember hot hands on me and the doctors saying, 'He won't live to morning.' That's in my subconscious somewhere."
Roy ScialabbaRoy Scialabba: "We were scared a little bit. No other plane had gone up. I remember starting to take off. We banked to the left and then I heard them shout ..."
Just before takeoff, Scialabba returned to the terminal to recover an article of clothing he had left behind. When he returned to the plane, Al Marinai had moved into his seat. Scialabba moved to the back of the plane. Marinai was much more severely injured than Scialabba (punctured lung and minor scrapes and bruises) in the crash.
Scialabba's wife of 47 years, Kathie, who passed away in 2014, is a sister of Dick McBride, who also survived the crash. Scialabba was a boxer and wrestler at Cal Poly as well, earning a conference title in wrestling and All-American honors in boxing.
Scialabba coached football and wrestling at Andrew Hill High School in San Jose for 13 years. His wrestling teams earned six league titles, five CIF-Central Coast Section crowns and one California state championship.
Fred Brown, who survived the crash and is living in El Sobrante, Calif.: "The only thing I remember is ducking my head before the final impact. The tail section where I was sitting flipped over the fuselage. I was upside down and conscious, 80 yards away from the main part of the plane."
Brown coached football, basketball, water polo, golf, swimming, wrestling and rugby at five high schools, two four-year universities and a pair of community colleges in the East Bay for over 50 years following the crash.
Don O'Meara, a 1953 graduate of Madera High School, transferred to Cal Poly from Santa Rosa Junior College under the GI Bill as a U.S. Navy veteran. He was married when he died in the crash.
Bob Johnson was knocked unconscious as a result of the crash and remained in a coma for about a week. He suffered multiple fractures in both arms and legs, but recovered completely save for a minor twist in one arm. He returned to campus and graduated in 1962, then moved back to his home state of Michigan and became a successful insurance salesman. He died in 2014. Johnson served in the U.S. Marine Corp before attending Cal Poly.
Ray Porras, 27, worked part time in the San Luis Obispo City Recreation Department. He left behind his wife, Dorothy, and four children.
Gary Van Horn worked for Cal Poly Athletics in 1960, lining the football field prior to each home game for $50 per quarter. He was a standout fullback and sprinter at Paso Robles High School, earning all-league, all-CIF-Southern Section and All-Southern California honors in football in 1955. Van Horn was a four-year letterman as a running back at Cal Poly and left behind his wife Karen and two children, one of them not yet born at the time of the accident.
Ted Tollner: "When we crashed, it was in an orchard at the end of the runway. I was not that far from the fire, but I was strapped in my seat." His left foot also was caught twisted in a foot rest. "A teammate, Carl Bowser, unstrapped me, and he and Dick McBride dragged me away from the burning plane. That's how I got away." The plane burst into flames a few moments later.
Dick McBrideDick McBride, Tollner's backup at quarterback, died in 1988 as a result of a car crash on Highway 101 between Santa Barbara and Buellton. He coached football for 22 years, eight as head coach, at Santa Ynez High School and also served as an assistant football coach at UC Santa Barbara for two years. He quarterbacked the 1962 Mustangs to a 4-5 record.
Roger Kelly, who survived the crash and coached football at Paso Robles, North (Bakersfield) and Redwood (Visalia) high schools before a 14-year career at College of the Sequoias, scored Cal Poly's only points against Bowling Green on a 45-yard punt return. About six hours later, he landed facedown in his seat on the runway, got out of his seat and assisted in helping injured players off the plane. "I got up and started helping, then my back, which was broken in five places, started hurting."
Despite spending nearly two months in a Toledo hospital and in a full body cast for about three months, Kelly returned to play his final season in a Mustang uniform in 1961. "I wasn't able to talk to many people when I was in the hospital. I was pretty sick and I had tubes running everywhere in my body. I was in and out of it. I'd lost probably 35 pounds in probably a week, week and a half." Kelly passed away in May 2019.
Jim Fahey
Half back Jim Fahey, the most recent survivor to pass away, on June 17, 2020, in Gilroy, Calif.: "We barely got off (the runway) when the engines started sputtering. Then the left engine gave out. Thump. I ducked my head and saw flames shoot out." Fahey unfastened his seat belt, helped Don Adams get off the plane, then they started dragging out all the people they could.
"The fire was all around us and I told Don we had to get out of there," said Fahey. "He told me he could not move. I unfastened his belt, he landed on his head and it took half his scalp off. I blamed myself for that for the rest of my life."
In September 2013, Fahey carded his first career hole-in-one -- at the age of 77 -- over trees and water on the 220-yard 11th hole at Lake View Executive Golf Course in Pahrump, Nevada. An orphan, Fahey graduated from Gilroy High School in 1956 and served in the U.S. Army with a one-year stint in Korea before enrolling at Gavilan College and transferring to Cal Poly to play football and compete in boxing as well.
Half back Vic Hall, an alternate 400-meter sprinter on the 1960 U.S. Olympic Team in Rome, had not originally played football due to his bad eyesight requiring corrective lenses. He was talked into joining the 1960 team, playing with contact lenses, after the season opener at BYU because of his exceptional speed.
End Curtis Hill had hoped to play pro ball with the 49ers. He was by far Cal Poly's top receiver in 1960 with 33 catches for 447 yards and three touchdowns in six games.
Tackle Rodney Baughn, engaged to Cal Poly student Sandy Jackson, had just bought his future bride her wedding dress and planned to marry her in December 1960.
John Brennan, whose brother Andy Brennan coached the offensive linemen at Cal Poly from 1968-81 and also coached at Northern Arizona, Cal State Hayward (now Cal State East Bay) and San Luis Obispo and Castro Valley high schools, was the head football coach at Glendale High School from 1974-79 and in 1984. He earned his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1964.
A bronze plaque honoring the deceased was constructed in 1967
and is located at the base of the flagpole in Alex G. Spanos Stadium.Jerry Williams, who died Oct. 14, 2001, as a result of a roping accident, was a longtime Santa Ynez Valley cattle rancher. The Santa Maria High School graduate suffered a broken leg in the plane crash. An end at Cal Poly, Williams played football and baseball for the Saints and was a third baseman for the Santa Maria Indians semi-pro baseball team.
General Owens survived the crash as well and passed away in Los Banos, Calif., in April 2016. "When I got out, the plane was burning like a torch. My first thought was that the plane was going to blow up, so I started to run. At first, I thought I was the only one who made it. Then I saw some of the others moving around."
Owens soon returned to the plane's fiery fuselage and began assisting other victims. "I remember I put my coat over one guy's legs."
Owens left Cal Poly, worked as a substitute teacher, transferred to Fresno State and earned his degree in health science in 1968. He taught for 30 years in the Evergreen School District in San Jose, was a substitute teacher in the Los Baños Unified School District and underwent successful kidney transplant surgery in 2009.
Bill DauphinDean Carlson was a half back on the squad. On that Saturday afternoon in 1960, his parents were watching their older son, Larry, play for Hancock College against Coalinga College (now West Hills College). Father Clarence Carlson was paged at halftime and was told of the crash. The family learned at 4 a.m. the next day that Dean Carlson, who played football and basketball and ran track at Lompoc High School, had passed away in the crash.
Walt Shimek, who grew up in Picture Bluff, Alberta, Canada, lived in San Francisco and ran his own Phillips 66 dealership for many years. The offensive lineman who played football at West Hills College in Coalinga in 1959 before transferring to Cal Poly, was in a hospital for five months with contusions, three cracked vertebrae, broken chest bones and severe cuts around the waist caused by the seat belt.
Shimek returned to Cal Poly after the crash but dropped out. "I just couldn't concentrate on my studies. My GPA dropped way down from a respectable 2.7." Injured in an automobile accident in downtown San Luis Obispo four weeks prior to the trip to Ohio, Shimek, who majored in crop production, currently resides in Fresno. Initial reports erroneously listed Shimek as having died in the crash.
Bill Ross also survived the accident, but spent seven months in a Toledo hospital after suffering severe burns. An offensive and defensive tackle on the 1959 and 1960 teams, Ross passed away in January 2014.
Ross returned to Cal Poly to earn his degree in 1963 and teaching credential in 1964. He coached football and taught physical education at Tracy Deuel Vocational Correctional Institution and West High School in Bakersfield before severe pain in his feet, injured in the crash, forced him out of coaching. He was an Arvin High School graduate and inducted into the school's Bear Boosters Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.
Bill Dauphin was making his first plane trip. He spent two weeks in a Toledo hospital, unconscious for the first 9-11 days, recovering from a dislocated hip, shoulder injury and burns, but was one of the 10 players who returned to play football in 1961.
"Some guys opted out and some were just too badly injured to take up football again," Dauphin said, "but for the guys who did get to play again, like Tollner and myself, I think that was really a healing thing, to try to get back to normal." He noted that even the taxi cabs were stopped from running that evening in Toledo due to the fog.
Dauphin, who also wrestled at Cal Poly, retired after a 30-year teaching and coaching career at Prospect and Leigh high schools in San Jose. He was a conference and regional wrestling champion in 1963 and placed second in the 1964 Pacific Coast Intercollegiates, all in the heavyweight division.
Ted Tollner and Fred Brown graciously gave up their seats.
Brown moved from the first row to the back of the plane and player Marshall Kulju moved a few rows back from the front row to make room for the mother and sister-in-law of the co-pilot, who wanted those seats. Brown survived the crash; Kulju as well as the mother and sister-in-law of the co-pilot perished.
Tollner switched seats with Curtis Hill as Hill got sick and felt that sitting up closer to the front would make him feel better and reduce his chances of feeling the aircraft wobble. Hill died in the crash while Tollner survived.
Fred Whittingham
Tollner, who threw for a career-best and school-record 246 yards hours earlier against then-unbeaten Bowling Green, reunited with Marinai, Bowser, Scialabba and other survivors every June at the home of former teammate Rich Max (the center on the 1959 team) on the Russian River. Tollner passed for 965 yards and six touchdowns in six games in 1960 and completed his Mustang career in 1961 with 2,244 passing yards and 20 scores.
"Anytime I'm feeling sorry for myself, whether it's from getting fired or losing a game, (the tragedy) has been my strength," Tollner said. "You're here for whatever reason and getting an opportunity to do something good. I've drawn strength from it — for whatever reason you're spared, so make it a positive thing."
Carl Bowser wanted to sit in the first row of three seats because it was going to be a long flight and he wanted the extra leg room. "There was no seat in front of that one. I started to sit down in that seat and a big lineman pushed me and took my seat. I was really upset. 'I'm going to kick your (butt) in practice on Monday,' I told him. So I went back and sat next to Billy Ross. The guy who took that seat got killed. I've never told anyone who that was. I didn't want his family to know."
Curtis Hill (back row at left), Don Roberts (back row
at right) and Bob Bostrom (center of front row) played
basketball on a travel team with Don Morris (front row
at right) a few months prior to the 1960 accident.Don Roberts, ASI President at Cal Poly after a successful write-in campaign, was public address announcer for high school football games played in Mustang Stadium and worked in the Cal Poly sports information office as a student intern. He was asked to announce to the crowd attending the Mission vs. Needles game that evening "that the entire Cal Poly team had been killed. I refused because no one could confirm everyone had died. I was horrified. Simply devastated after that."
Many in the crowd heard the news from other sources and left the high school game early.
Roberts was scheduled to fly with the team to Ohio but his father was ill and Roberts decided to stay home, giving up his seat to student manager WendellMiner. Miner died in the crash. "It should have been me," Roberts said. Roberts and his wife, former Telegram-Tribune reporter Carol Roberts, were good friends with Hill and named their son, Curtis, after him.
Carol Roberts was editor of El Mustang in 1960. She attended a wedding in Sacramento the day of the crash and was told to return immediately to San Luis Obispo to assist with the next edition of the campus newspaper. On the way back, she heard reports on the car radio that 47 of the 48 passengers on the plane had died.
Larry Austin (85) and Joel Copeland (53)
were inseparable throughout their lives.Fred Whittingham was in a hospital nursing a concussion and didn't travel to the game at Bowling Green. He was a three-year starter in football, playing tight end on offense and defensive end on defense, while earning Little All-American honors in 1961. In his senior season (1962) he played offensive guard, earning All-Coast honors.
During his college career, he also competed in track and field, finishing third in the discus and shot put events in the 1961 California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships. Whittingham also took up boxing under head coach Tom Lee based on a recommendation he received to control his temper. He won the 1958 Intermountain Heavyweight Championship and the Regional Golden Gloves competition in Las Vegas, receiving offers to turn professional.
Instead, Whittingham went on to enjoy an eight-year career in the NFL with four teams (Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys), earning a berth in the 1968 Pro Bowl, and with the Boston Patriots of the American Football League for two years. He then coached at BYU and Utah along with NFL coaching stints with the Rams and Oakland Raiders. A Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame member, Whittingham died in 2003.
End Larry Austin and center Joel Copeland were inseparable teammates at Bakersfield High School. Their lives were linked for 23 years, ever since they were born two days apart in the same small maternity ward in Bakersfield. They were co-captains in 1954 and successive presidents of the school's Letterman's Club. Both married Bakersfield girls. They were teammates at Cal Poly and both were physical education majors. Austin had a young son.
Larry and Joel sat together in the front half of the plane. They were buried side-by-side at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Bakersfield. Bowser named his only son Larry Joe, his way of honoring Austin and Copeland. Bowser still visits the graves of Austin and Copeland in Bakersfield, just to say hello, and always delivers three roses -- one each for Austin, Copeland and Hill, who is buried at Union Cemetery.
"I drove by the cemetery every day when I was working at Bakersfield College," Bowser said of the resting place for Austin and Copeland. "When I am in town on Oct. 29, I visit their graves. I sometimes visit more than once a year."
Al Marinai, who survived the crash and died on June 25, 2019, spent three years in Toledo and San Francisco area hospitals following the crash. He battled infection after infection in his leg that was badly damaged and also suffered a broken skull, broken ankle, broken knee and broken back. He never played football again.
Marinai told Mustang News on the 10th anniversary of the crash, "We had to push the airplane out into the direction of the field. The plane was alongside the hangar and us football players had to push it to the lights cause we couldn't see them. We climbed into the plane on a ladder, like firemen. We had to aim the plane to take off. (The pilot) went to one side and saw that he was going to hit the lights, so he pulled it up and as it went up he didn't have enough air speed, so he just went into stalling position and it crashed."
Al Marinai
Marinai returned by train to San Francisco following the crash, refusing to return to Cal Poly, and rarely shared his story with anyone, admitting that a combination of guilt -- " 'I'm alive, it's unbelievable.' Then it hit me. 'Why me? What's the difference that I'm alive but others aren't?' " -- and anger at the loss of a promising professional football career, not to mention the limited use of his legs, caused him to keep his past to himself. "It's been difficult for me more than some of the others."
Finally, 40 years later, in 2000, Marinai made not one but two trips to San Luis Obispo. He attended the Cal Poly Millenium All-Sports Reunion in July and returned in October to be inducted into the Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame along with Curtis Hill.
At the reunion, Carl Bowser took Marinai to the memorial plaque at the base of the flagpole in Mustang Stadium. Marinai cried. "It was very difficult for me to come down. I just can't explain it, but when I got the (invitation) letter, I decided I would do it. I never had an opportunity to say goodbye to those guys."
Carl Bowser
When he stepped into Mustang Stadium again in 2000, for the first time since 1960, Marinai said, "I lost it. It's very emotional to be back, but it's good to see all my friends."
Nearly four months later, Marinai returned to Cal Poly for the Hall of Fame induction. Marinai asked the selection committee to induct Hill, which it did, but he had no idea what to expect next. Six of Marinai's teammates thought he was also deserving of the honor and asked the committee to consider Marinai. The committee obliged.
Marinai calls the induction one of the biggest highlights of his sporting life. "It was the biggest compliment having my six former teammates nominate me," Marinai said. "It was special going into the Hall with Curtis Hill."
Regarded as one of the best offensive linemen to ever suit up for the Mustangs, no one fought for development of Alex G. Spanos Stadium's Mustang Memorial Plaza harder than Al Marinai. The former Standard Oil draftsman joined the San Francisco Prep Hall of Fame in 2006.
In 2002, Marinai, who walked with a leg brace and a cane much of the rest of his life following the accident, also returned to Cal Poly to meet Martha Hogle, the widow of an off-duty Toledo police officer who was called to the scene of the 1960 accident and decided to visit Cal Poly "to better understand the tragedy." They met at "The Rock" underneath the flagpole at Mustang Stadium and viewed the bronze plaque. "Al cried and he hugged me and he kept saying, 'Thank you, thank you' for coming," said Hogle. "He said it could have been your husband who helped me get out."
1960 Cal Poly coaching staff (L-R): Walt Williamson,
Sheldon Harden, Howie O'Daniels and Roy Hughes
Head coach Roy Hughes had some concerns just before the plane took off and expressed them to the co-pilot. Chesher, however, elected to fly.
"The pilot has more in this than anyone else," Hughes told the passengers. "He wouldn't take any chances. We have nothing to worry about."
Someone else on the plane said, "Let's give it the old college try."
The day following the crash, Hughes dictated his thoughts to a United Press International staff writer.
"I don't remember a thing about the crash. I was sitting by myself because I was upset about the loss. I was reading a letter from a friend. The next thing I remember is being dragged out of the wreckage by the assistant coaches (Walt Williamson and Sheldon Harden) and the stewardess. I had head, back and leg injuries, but nothing like a lot of the others."
Hughes, who compiled a 73-37-1 record in 12 seasons at the helm (1950-61), was in a Toledo hospital for nine days with scalp wounds and major damage to his thigh and knee.
"The program went downhill after the crash," Hughes said years afterward. "Kids didn't want to come here. Who could blame them? We were the school that had the crash.
"One of the most heartbreaking, yet also the most heartwarming, sides of the story was the '61 team. It was so hard for some of them to come back. I used to brag about my '53 Cal Poly team because it was 9-0, but those '61 guys went 5-3 on courage you wouldn't believe.
"Ted Tollner, my quarterback, was all wired together. Roy Scialabba was all crippled up and had no business in a football uniform, but you couldn't keep 'em away. I was so proud of those survivors who came back.
Cal Poly's 2010 football team pauses at Memorial Rock.
"Curtis Hill and Al Marinai were pro prospects. Lou Groza of the Cleveland Browns had come to the Bowling Green game to scout them along with Carl Bowser. I remember what a terrible beating Hill took that day. He caught everything Tollner threw to him, but he was gang-tackled all day. Never beefed once. A class guy. Marinai had the talent and the desire to play pro ball, but he was one of the worst injured. He never played again.
"Now I'll tell you what hurt the most. It was about two weeks after the crash, when two assistant coaches, a trainer and I found a big package delivered to us at the gym. A group of Bowling Green students had gone to the crash site the next day, gathered up all our uniforms, laundered them and shipped them home. Well, when we opened that box and found all those uniforms and saw the numbered jerseys of the guys who'd died, it was too much. We just broke down, all of us."
Assistant coach Howie O'Daniels, head coach of the Mustangs for 11 seasons from 1933-41 and 1946-47, was seriously injured in the crash but continued to assist the football coaching staff for about five more years. He underwent hip replacement surgery 10 years after the crash and used a cane.
His 38-year Cal Poly career also included coaching stints in basketball, baseball and track and field and he was an administrator as well before becoming a business administration instructor. O'Daniels retired in 1971, owned two saloons and sailed his boat out of Morro Bay. He passed away in 1991.
Assistant coach Sheldon Harden, the lone survivor who didn't require overnight hospitalization (he had a torn thumb): "People were tossed everywhere. Some were even thrown out of the aircraft. Despite being afraid of the airliner exploding, a few of the lesser injured returned to the interior of the plane to help remove bodies and survivors.
"I remember seeing Wayne Sorensen, a reserve quarterback, enter behind me to remove two passengers from the plane. He saved two lives despite the punctured lung he sustained in the crash. He didn't live to tell about it. He died in the hospital the next day."
Harden took over for Hughes as head coach in 1962, a time when the football budget was drastically cut, the Mustang Booster Club dissolved, there were no dorms for the athletes, no part-time jobs and very few scholarships (the largest was $200). Harden's six teams won 17 games from 1962-67.
Assistant coach Walt Williamson sustained very light injuries in the crash and returned to coach the Mustangs in 1961. He later became a scout for the Baltimore Colts, then coached the Orange County Ramblers to a 10-2 mark in the Continental Football League in 1967. The following year he coached the Greek Olympic track and field team in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.
Williamson became a successful track and field coach at Cal State Los Angeles, mentoring 52 All-Americans and five individual national champions as well as guiding the Golden Eagles to the 1978 NCAA Division II team title and three other top-10 finishes. He also was director of athletics at Cal State L.A. from 1981-82 and an assistant football coach and physical education instructor.
Telegram-Tribune sports editor Johnny Nettleship wanted to sit with team booster Pete Bachino on the flight home. "I was the last one on the plane, taking pictures of the players boarding. As I got on, Pete was hanging up his coat up front, so I went around him to our seat. Wendell Miner, the student manager, was in it, so I sat on the other side of the aisle a couple rows farther back with Brent Jobe.
"Bachino and Miner were both killed. I was badly injured and Jobe didn't have a scratch. I was really banged up. My left arm was broken in three places, the right arm in one place. I'd had my typewriter on my lap, typing. The keys were driven into my chest. I also had a broken jaw, skull fracture, broken eye socket and broken pelvis, but the worst was my crushed chest. At the hospital, they wired it to the ceiling so I could breathe. I had six doctors and I was in the Toledo hospital six months."
Refusing to fly home, Nettleship rode by train back to San Luis Obispo and returned to work at the Telegram-Tribune until his retirement in 1980. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 88. Johnny Nettleship, 47, at Mercy Hospital in Toledo,
Ohio, following the 1960 Cal Poly plane crash. Visiting
Nettleship are daughter Jane, left, and wife Louise, right.
Nettleship was a regular on Cal Poly's travel trips for football games. He wrote of his experiences in a 1985 Telegram-Tribune story marking the 25th anniversary of the crash.
On the team's 1957 plane trip to Las Cruces, N.M., to play New Mexico State: "On the return trip, the pilot determined that the wheels would not come down for the landing at the Paso Robles airport. So we circled Santa Margarita Lake for several minutes while crew members pumped coffee and other available liquid into the hydraulic system. The wheels came down, but there still was some concern as to whether the brakes would hold.
"Fire trucks and emergency vehicles were on the scene as we landed successfully," Nettleship added. On that flight was Mustang lineman John Madden, whose fear of flying before and after that trip resulted in him taking the train and, later, his personal bus for trips as head coach of the Oakland Raiders and as an analyst for Monday Night Football telecasts. Madden was not on the 1960 flight to Ohio.
On the aforementioned 1959 flight to Montana State in Bozeman, Nettleship wrote: "The plane took off from Paso Robles and, after a few minutes in the air, one of Poly's linemen, Sylvester 'Boxcar' Cooper, stated, 'One of the motors has stopped.' " The plane made a successful emergency landing in Bakersfield. The team practiced at Bakersfield College while another non-scheduled aircraft was summoned from Los Angeles.
"The next leg of the trip landed in Salt Lake City, but the pilot told Hughes that the plane was 2,000 pounds overweight and used too much gas." Hughes then told the six heaviest people on the plane -- two coaches and two team boosters along with (Cal Poly housing coordinator Bob) Bostrom and Nettleship -- to rent a car and drive over the Wasatch mountains to Bozeman. Those six flew commercially back home via Seattle and San Francisco while the team returned to Paso Robles safely.
More from Nettleship on the 1960 flight to Toledo and back: "My wife Louise was watching Bonanza on the television when the program was interrupted by a news bulletin stating that the Cal Poly plane had crashed and that there were no survivors. My daughter Jane was seated in the Obispo Theatre when the report of the crash was announced from the stage. Seated in front of Jane was Telegram-Tribune editor Bob Goodell, who immediately left the theater to begin producing the special Sunday edition."
Nettleship was the last survivor to leave Toledo. He had company. Louise and Jane both made the trip by train to Toledo, found housing a block from the hospital and were with the longtime scribe the entire time. He returned to the newspaper in 1961 and retired in 1980 after 30 years of service.
Robert Kennedy, at the time a journalism professor at Cal Poly who seven years later would become the university's president, and Dean of Students Everett Chandler, who arrived in Toledo hours after the crash, were assigned the task of notifying the next of kin of their losses. Most of the calls were placed between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. Pacific on Sunday.
"Once we had all the information, knew who was killed and who survived, Chandler and I had to call the relatives of those who died," Kennedy said in a 1980 interview with the Telegram-Tribune. "It was one of the most nightmarish, heartrending tasks I've ever attempted. The worst part of it was calling the parents, most of whom didn't even know there was a wreck."
In Toledo, Chandler was joined by President Julian A. McPhee, who was in Washington, D.C., to attend a faculty recruitment meeting, to make arrangements for the return of the 22 bodies and 26 survivors.
Assistant coach Sheldon Harden, who died in 2004, had the gruesome task of identifying badly burned bodies, often only recognizing who the players were by the distinctive shoes or ring they may have been wearing. "I'll never forget it. I had to look for a belt buckle or a ring or a shirt that was theirs and then be certain it was the right boy."
Bostrom said, "I had the unhappy task both of receiving their belongings from the plane crash and from their dorm rooms." He worked with the players' parents on picking up their son's belongings.
Dean Clyde Fisher helped the players with academic adjustments and assisted the families with the legal process. Cal Poly Personnel Officer Don Morris was summoned from his home by Kennedy, then Cal Poly's vice president, to come to the campus and answer phone calls from all over the world, including one from a German newspaper.
Tollner, Kelly and Scialabba were three of the 10 survivors of the crash who returned to play football in 1961. The others were Jobe, McBride, Brown, Bowser, Dauphin, Brennan and Johnson.
Tuthill, the 1960 redshirt who coached football for six seasons at Caruthers High (1966-71), 13 at Shasta High (1972-77, 1983-89), two at Central Valley High (1981-82) and two at Shasta College (1978-79), retired from teaching U.S. and world history at Shasta High in 1990. A 49-year resident of Redding, Tuthill coached teams to seven league or conference titles and a pair of CIF-Northern Section championships.
"
Head coach Roy Hughes, left, with the 10 survivors who played on the 1961 team (L-R):
Ted Tollner (14), Roy Scialabba (61), Brent Jobe, Roger Kelly (29), Dick McBride (12),
Fred Brown, Carl Bowser, Bob Johnson (64), Bill Dauphin and John Brennan (73).
When we came back, we knew what it was all about," Tuthill said of the 1961 team. "We did talk about the people that were deceased, but we just went about our business. We worked hard. We knew what the season was about. We were very well aware of what was going on, but there was no real specific conversations about any one particular thing.
"It was a unified kind of a deal. Everybody on the team felt we knew what we were doing and we knew who we were playing for. It was assumed more than anything else," Tuthill added. "Just the fact that those guys were all back playing was really inspirational.
"Guys like Ted Tollner and Bob Johnson were badly banged up in that wreck and they were back playing football the next year. That was pretty incredible, really incredible, and the fact that Ted even played was miraculous. That guy, you talk about a guy coming back from being really badly injured, that was amazing.
"They really had a positive attitude," Tuthill said of the survivors. "Any of the downtimes that they had, they had to be on their own. When I saw them and we talked, it was a pretty positive experience. They felt good and I thought their outlook on life was good."
Was there any talk of canceling the 1961 season and, perhaps, even dropping football?
"Heck, no, no, no, absolutely not," said Tuthill. "We were coming back. We were going to play. There was no question about that, in anybody's mind. When they all came back, they said, 'We're going to play next year. We're playing next year.' And we did play. Not only were we 5-3, we were 2-2 going into the Fresno State game and that was the conference championship right there. Just the fact we did that was testimony to the nature and kind of attitude that all those guys had."
A 1957 Mira Costa High School graduate, Tuthill played with Wayne Sorenson and Guy Hennigan at L.A. Harbor in 1958 and 1959. Wendell Miner was the student manager of the Seahawks. All three died in the crash.
Tuthill and his wife, Louise, have three children -- two sons and a daughter -- and seven grandchildren. Clark and Louise were on a date in San Luis Obispo when they learned of the crash on the radio.
Tuthill, who earned bachelor's (physical education) and master's (education) degrees at Cal Poly, worked in land development and home construction following his retirement in 1990. He now enjoys fly fishing in such places as the South Pacific, Yucatan, Costa Rica, the Bahamas, Alaska and British Columbia.
LIFE Magazine cover for Nov. 14, 1960.
The Homecoming game was scheduled the week after the crash versus Cal State Los Angeles, with the Homecoming Dance in Men's Gym (now Mott Athletics Center) after the game. Instead, five days earlier, on Halloween, the gym was used to hold a memorial service, with thousands of students standing in silent prayer.
Telegram-Tribune special edition, Oct. 30, 1960.
San Luis Obispo Mayor Fred M. Waters proclaimed a "Week of Sorrow" and ordered all flags in the city flown at half-mast.
The San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune published a special edition on Sunday, Oct. 30, 1960, one day after the crash. It was only the second time the newspaper had published on a Sunday before it began publishing seven days a week in August 1999. The other Sunday edition was on Dec. 7, 1941, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
In addition to the Cal State Los Angeles contest, Cal Poly also canceled games versus Adams State on Nov. 12 and UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 18.
Cal Poly did not play another game outside of California for nine years following the crash. The Mustangs flew to Montana in 1969, Joe Harper's second season as head coach.
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. The Mustangs did not play another regular season game east of the Rockies until 1989, a 45–20 loss to Angelo State in Texas.
It took years before injured players and families of the deceased received any financial settlements as a result of the crash.
Four years after the crash, a $502,000 settlement against Lloyd's of London ($320,000) and the state of California ($182,000) was announced. A total of 41 civil cases were consolidated in the package agreement. Amounts paid to each plaintiff ranged from $2,500 to $45,000, but payments weren't made until until 1967. Originally, the filed suits asked for about $6 million.
Arctic Pacific had been ordered to pay each plaintiff approximately 50 percent of its contractural liability of $25,000 per seat. Five years earlier, the U.S. Congress refused to pass legislation authorizing payment of $350,000 to 25 survivors and the estates of the 22 people who died in the crash.
In November 1967, insurance firms settled claims from 10 plaintiffs ranging from $2,500 to $9,000. Awards totaling $99,699 were declared by a U.S. District Court judge in San Diego in February 1968 for 10 plaintiffs. The awards ranged from $570 to $23,750. In addition, two children and the mother of Vic Hall were awarded $34,000 by the same court a month later. Al Marinai, represented by famed attorney Melvin Belli and the most seriously injured of the plaintiffs, was given a judgment of $271,695.
In 1970, a federal court of appeals in San Francisco upheld a lower court ruling that assessed blame for the accident on the federal government. The court ruled that the U.S. government was liable for damages because of negligence by federal air traffic controllers at Toledo in permitting the plane to take off in heavy fog. More than $2 million in damages was awarded in the joint suit filed by 33 plaintiffs, including survivors, widows and parents of the crash victims. The plaintiffs originally asked for more than $6 million.
L.A. County Supervisor Warren Dorn and Cal Poly President
Julian A. McPhee in front of survivors of Cal Poly plane crash.
The next year, with support from entertainer Bob Hope, Los Angeles County Supervisor Warren Dorn and a blessing from President John F. Kennedy, a game was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to offset burial costs, pay medical expenses and set up an educational fund for the victims' families and survivors.
Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray wrote on the week of the game, "On Thanksgiving morning this year in the Coliseum, a 'Mercy Bowl' benefit game will be played to help San Luis Obispo write off its obligations to the tragedy victims, the children they left behind them, and the survivors.
Roy Hughes, Ted Tollner and Warren Dorn unveil plaque.
"My feeling is, it is not only their obligation. It is the obligation of all of us interested in athletics. I can think of no better way to give thanks on that day that we are here and healthy, than to contribute to those who are alone with only memories of that day," Murray concluded.
A crowd of more than 33,000 turned out to see Fresno State beat Bowling Green 36-6 that Thanksgiving Day in 1961. Check eBay and it's easy to find ticket stubs — stamped with "Benefit Cal Poly Plane Crash Fund" — and souvenir programs for sale.
Cover of game program from
1961 Mercy Bowl, shared by
Chuck Mozena of Paso Robles.
A day before the Nov. 23, 1961, game, JFK wired a telegram to the president of the Fresno State student body: "Your efforts to aid survivors and families of victims are most commendable and merit support. Heartiest congratulations to the Mercy Bowl game and best wishes to the participating schools," it said.
At halftime, Tollner, at the game as a spectator, still nursing the right ankle smashed in the accident, helped unveil a memorial plaque to the 1960 Cal Poly team that remains at the Coliseum. He often passed it when he coached at USC.
"There are so many bowls now, I have trouble keeping track of all of them, and I'm in the business. I've been lucky and gotten to coach at a lot of bowl games. Head coach of a Rose Bowl win," Tollner said, "but I don't think any of them were any more meaningful than the Mercy Bowl."
All proceeds from the game ($171,000) went to the memorial fund. An additional $107,000 from benefits held across the country boosted the total to over $287,000 (including interest) for those affected by the crash. The funds were distributed by the Memorial Fund Committee, directed by Fisher, to the injured players and families of the deceased. The committee was disbanded in 1971 after all the funds were distributed.
Bowling Green was picked to play because of its association with the crash. Fresno State earned its spot by winning the California Collegiate Athletic Association title. Among the teams the Bulldogs beat in 1961 was Cal Poly.
Fresno State free safety Jim Sanderson, who went on to be an assistant coach (1968-81 under Joe Harper) and head coach (1982-86) at Cal Poly, set a school record in the game with his 17th career interception.
Lynn Lobaugh (68), Bill Stewart (82), Jim Ledbetter (65) and Vic Hall (26), shown in game against Bowling Green in
1960, all died in crash a few hours later. Billy Ross (72, on ground at left) and Walt Shimek (making tackle) survived.
Bernie Casey, was an accomplished football and track and field athlete, actor and artist who was among the nation's best collegiate receivers in 1960. His Bowling Green Falcons were unbeaten going into the game against overmatched Cal Poly that brisk October afternoon.
Bowling Green, ranked No. 2 among the nation's small college football teams by the United Press International Board of Coaches, romped 50-6, improving to 6-0 on the year on its way to an 8-1 season.
With several hours to spare before Cal Poly's bus ride to the airport, some Cal Poly players went to Halloween parties at campus sororities. Others hung around the student union. That's where Casey ran into Curtis Hill.
Hours later, Casey, who enjoyed an eight-year career in the National Football League with the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams and played in the 1967 Pro Bowl, was hanging out with teammates when someone burst in with the horrific news of the crash. They ran to their cars and drove to the airport.
To this day, Casey is struck by one image.
"At the terminal, the people that couldn't be saved, their bodies were wrapped in blankets and stacked up. Not disrespectful, but they had nowhere to put them," Casey said. "And they were right under a sign that said 'Get Your Insurance Here.' I'm not sure why I remember that, but I do."
Shaken by the crash, Bowling Green decided to avoid air travel and instead took a train to its next road game — a 2.5-day ride to play Texas Western (now UTEP) in El Paso.
Gil Stork at Mustang Memorial Plaza
dedication ceremony on September 29, 2006.
Nearly 46 years after the crash, on Sept. 29, 2006, Cal Poly had completed construction of a memorial to the deceased players and invited back family members of the victims plus the surviving players and their families for the dedication. The entire 1960 team was inducted into the Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame that evening and the survivors in attendance were introduced at halftime of the Mustangs' football game versus Southern Utah the next day. Cal Poly won the contest, 18-14.
The 15,000-square-foot Mustang Memorial Plaza is rich in symbolism. It is anchored by a striking bronze sculpture of a mustang created by Roy Harris -- aptly titled "Unbridled Spirit" -- which stands at the center of a 'team huddle' created by a circle of 18 pillars faced in copper, a metal that grows more beautiful with time. Each of the 18 pillars stands at the same height as that of its honoree. Soft beams of light glow from the tops of the pillars, permanent beacons that serve to guide those who wish to honor the memory of the team. Each pillar displays a granite plaque engraved with the 1961 yearbook photo of the honored individual, statistics for that player, and personal information. As one family member wrote in tribute to its lost loved one, "Always loved. Never forgotten."
The plaza, including a black granite plaque, all was designed by 1992 Applied Art and Design graduate Scott Saunders.
"This dedication is one of the most significant moments in Cal Poly's history, as well as for me personally," then-Cal Poly President Warren J. Baker told the assembly of more than 400 people -- relatives of the deceased, 12 of the 14 survivors and their families, relatives of the survivors who died since the crash and friends of the university in attendance. "The new Mustang Memorial Plaza is Cal Poly's tribute to the 1960 team. With this plaza, we will preserve forever the memory of the 18 who perished in the tragic crash, so that their hopes and dreams live on."
A flock of doves was released during the ceremony.
Sources: San Luis Obispo Tribune, Mustang News, University Archives, Chuck Mozena, Los Angeles Times, East Bay Times, Congressional Record, Toledo Blade, Bowling Green Daily Sentinel-Tribune, Bakersfield Californian, Lompoc Record, Associated Press, ESPN, LIFE Magazine, Civil Aeronautic Board, Bureau of Aircraft Accidents
Photo Credits: University Archives, East Bay Times, Mustang News, Toledo Blade
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Perovich was sitting in the pilot's seat on the left side of the aircraft at the time of the crash. The bride, Angela Perovich, lost her first husband and their four children in an automobile accident several years prior to the plane crash which claimed the life of the co-pilot, her second husband.
Brent Jobe, an end and student pilot, told his friends, not very positively, "We're gonna take a shot (at takeoff)" and thought it was crazy to do so. "I was dead set against the takeoff." 
All proceeds from the game ($171,000) went to the memorial fund. An additional $107,000 from benefits held across the country boosted the total to over $287,000 (including interest) for those affected by the crash. The funds were distributed by the Memorial Fund Committee, directed by Fisher, to the injured players and families of the deceased. The committee was disbanded in 1971 after all the funds were distributed.
With several hours to spare before Cal Poly's bus ride to the airport, some Cal Poly players went to Halloween parties at campus sororities. Others hung around the student union. That's where Casey ran into Curtis Hill.
