• 1960 – A C-46 airliner carrying the Cal Poly Mustangs football team crashed during takeoff from Toledo Express Airport in Ohio, U.S., resulting in 22 deaths.

California Polytechnic State University football team plane crash

Coordinates: 41°35'19"N 83°48'42"W


C-46 similar to accident aircraft

Accident
Date: October 29, 1960
Summary: Pilot error; overloading
Site: Toledo Express Airport, Ohio, United States; 41°35'19"N 83°48'42"W

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 team to a game against Bowling Green State University. Of the 48 on board, 22 were killed, including both pilots, 16 players, a student manager, and a Cal Poly football booster.

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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The pilot who made the decision to take off was flying on a certificate that had been revoked, but he was allowed to fly pending an appeal.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 USC 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 its 1960 season.


A plaque for the 1960 Cal Poly football team is shown at its
display near the southwest corner of Mustang Memorial
Field in San Luis Obispo, California, in April 2023.

Hall of Fame 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 Angelo State in Texas.

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