[widebody911]

Crash at Farrell's

Originally Posted by BE911SC

There was a famous crash in Sacramento in 1973-74 when a novice pilot ran an F-86 Sabre through an ice cream parlor full of children celebrating a birthday party. His F-86 had its underwing fuel tanks bolted on (by regulation) and he had filled up with fuel for the ride back to Oakland. He attempted takeoff in the heat of the day on the shorter runway, aborted once, then taxied back and committed the jet to takeoff. He never attained sufficient flying speed and thus crashed through the perimeter fence, across a culvert and a busy boulevard, then crashed into the ice cream parlor, exploding all that fuel. I later heard Korean War F-86 ace Bob Love describe the event and that he had even told the pilot not to attempt the takeoff until later in the evening when temperatures were lower.