Disaster at the Farrell's Ice Cream Restaurant. Sept. 24, 1972

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On September 24, 1972, a privately owned Canadair Sabre Mk. 5 jet, piloted by Richard Bingham, failed to take off while leaving the "Golden West Sport Aviation Air Show" at Sacramento Executive Airport in Sacramento, California, United States. The airplane crashed into a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor. Twenty-two people died and 28 were injured including the pilot.

Accident ~

The crash occurred on September 24, 1972, at approximately 4:25 pm. The Canadair Sabre failed to gain sufficient altitude upon takeoff, with eyewitnesses suggesting the nose was over-rotated. The F-86 Sabre has a dangerous and often fatal handling characteristic upon takeoff if the nose is raised prematurely from the runway. This handling characteristic of the F-86 was acknowledged from the early 1950s.

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Blog Created: 6-13-2022

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Wikipedia // Liberty Voice

The aircraft over-ran the runway, struck an earthen berm, and ripped through a chain link fence. Two external underwing fuel tanks ruptured and ignited upon impact with the fence, creating a massive fireball. The plane continued across Freeport Boulevard, crashing into a moving car, and struck at 150 miles per hour (240 km/h) a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor. Occupants of the parlor included the Sacramento 49ers junior football team.

Twenty-two people died, including 12 children. An eight-year-old survivor of the accident lost nine family members: both parents, two brothers, a sister, two grandparents and two cousins. A family of four also died in the accident. Two people were killed in the car struck on Freeport Boulevard. Immediately after the crash an elderly couple trying to cross the street to the crash site were struck by a vehicle, killing the wife. The crash could have claimed many more lives if the external fuel tanks had not ruptured prior to impact, or if the jet had not been slowed by hitting the moving car and other vehicles parked in front of the restaurant. Bingham, the pilot, suffered a broken leg and a broken arm.

Aircraft ~

The Canadair Sabre was a single-engine jet fighter built for the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1954. This Sabre was withdrawn from service in 1961 and placed in long-term storage. It was sold as surplus in the United States in 1971 and was bought by Spectrum Air, Inc., of Novato, California, in the same year.

North American F86-01.

Aftermath ~

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the accident was a result of pilot error due to lack of experience on the jet. Bingham had logged fewer than four hours flying time in the Sabre. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) modified the rules governing the flight of ex-military jets over densely populated areas and mandated clearance for such flights. Pilot requirements were also tightened: they would require a checkout by the manufacturer or military, and take-offs and landings would have to be observed by an FAA inspector to confirm proficiency.

The Firefighters Burn Institute was instituted a year after the crash, funded from donations given to local firefighters.

There were at least 26 active lawsuits stemming from the crash, seeking awards for relatives of the dead and for those injured. The trial began in October 1975, with defendants including the aircraft owner, pilot, the City of Sacramento, Sacramento County, the State of California, Farrell’s, and the company’s architect. Settlements in the amount of 5 million dollars were awarded in May of 1976.

Memorial ~

In 2002, a memorial was built at the site of the accident (now part of Freeport Square Shopping Center) and dedicated in March 2003. It consists of: a rose garden with two benches, a fountain, a concrete marker and two metal plaques with the names of those who died.

In 2012, a service to commemorate the 40th anniversary was held to remember the victims of the accident.

The memorial plaque, dedicated in 2003, to the victims of the accident.

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Farrells Ice Cream Parlor and Its History of Fatal Crashes ~

By Stacy Feder on April 26, 2014, Liberty Voice

In lieu of yesterday’s unfortunate car crash at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor, resulting in the death of a 73-year-old woman and injuring six others, memories of two other fatally tragic crashes at the famous family eatery began to resurface. In 1972, a small speeding fighter jet failed to take off from a nearby airfield successfully, crashing into the restaurant and killing 12 children and 10 adults. Ten years later, in 1982, a small family-owned single-engine aircraft nose-dived into the middle of traffic in front of a Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor, killing the three passengers on board. All three occurrences coincidentally happened at California locations.

The third in the series happened yesterday, April 25, in Buena Park, CA, southwest of Los Angeles in Orange County. After an elderly man leaving the parlor got into his SUV, which was parked right in front of the restaurant where patrons were gathered waiting to be seated, the vehicle quickly lurched forward, plowing through a decorative metal fence and pummeling through the crowd. Upon impact, an elderly woman was pinned beneath the vehicle and several others were left stunned, holding broken and bloodied limbs.

The elderly woman was later identified as Marisa Malin, 73. She was rushed to the hospital where she later died, according to the coroner’s report. The other victims at the scene include two adults, two small children, and a teenager. All went to the hospital with minor to moderate injuries. A sixth was treated at the scene with minor wounds. It has not yet been determined if any of the affected were family members or acquaintances. No one inside the bustling parlor was hurt. Neither the driver, nor his passenger, was injured in the incident. The elderly driver reportedly cooperated with the police, but was not immediately cited. Reasons for the abrupt collision are still unknown, however it is expected that the man behind the wheel either accidentally put his car into drive instead of reverse or stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake.

The 1982 crash never made impact with the family-friendly destination, and thankfully no bystanders were unintentionally harmed. The single-engine passenger plane plunged from the sky, crashing right in front of Farrells in the middle of Hawthorne Boulevard, a major thoroughfare running through Torrence, CA, 20 miles south of Los Angeles. It was reported that the head-first collision sent a fireball rolling down the heavily populated street and shot flames over 100 feet into the air. The heat was so intense it scorched several nearby parked cars, destroying them entirely. Patrons of the restaurant referred to the explosion as an inferno.

Another crash in front of a Farrell's Restaurant.

A waitress said when the plane exploded, it “went up like a mushroom.” She also reported seeing an arm come out of one of the airplane’s windows as if someone was trying to get out. According to her story, everyone in the restaurant jumped up and fled without paying their bills, but the restaurant employees were trying to keep everyone inside because of the heat intensity. Initially some thought the impact was an earthquake.

Due to the intensity of the fire, positive identities of those inside the plane had to wait until dental records were confirmed. The passengers were eventually identified as Don Morgan, 44, a fire captain for the LAFD, his teenage daughter Michelle, and another middle-aged man. The three were plane-hopping through the area to grab a bite to eat during their short flight to Catalina Island, 26 miles away, where they were going to celebrate the Easter weekend together. While emergency officials were clearing the area, a young man abruptly stopped his car near the scene, running toward the wreckage with tears in his eyes, crying, “Oh God, that’s them!” After being restrained by police officers and collapsing in grief, he was identified as one of the pilot’s sons.

Barely escaping injury was a group of children gathered around a window table for a birthday party with a front row seat to the explosion. An attendee who happened to be videotaping the birthday event at that moment, turned his camera on the perilous crash, which was later broadcast on newscasts covering the story.

Patrons at Farrell’s Ica Cream Parlor during the crash in 1972, the most fatal of all three incidents, were not so fortunate. This hapless and tragic event occurred in Sacramento, about 400 miles north of the Los Angeles area crashes. Over the weekend, there had been an air show in a field neighboring the Crossroads shopping center, which was home to the famous ice cream parlor chain. Sunday evening, as the air show was concluding, many aircrafts geared up to depart the airfield. The Sabre Mark 5, a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft, unfortunately, did not have a successful departure. As the Sabre Mark started down the runway, it porpoised twice, bouncing up and down on the runway, and even though it landed back gently on the ground each time, it never took off properly. It was later discovered that due to the pilot taking off too quickly, the fighter jet overran the runway, shooting up over a levee, tearing through a chain-link fence, and smashing into a traveling car as it skidded across Freeport Boulevard. The aircraft’s course ground to an explosive halt when it impacted the Howard Hughes Room of Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor, where the Sacramento 49ers little league football squad had been enjoying a team dinner.

A huge ball of fire erupted into the air. Several cars in the parking lot had been knocked sideways. A grill from one of the automobiles flew inside the restaurant. The high temperatures charred paint on cars parked up to 60 feet away. Energy from the explosion toppled mannequins in shops nearby. Plumes of thick, dark smoke billowed out of the bright red restaurant. Every single one of Sacramento’s public and private emergency responders were called to the scene, dragging bodies of patrons from the burning parlor. A makeshift coroner’s office was promptly set up in a far corner of the parking lot.

Bystanders immediately rescued the pilot, general manager of Spectrum Air, Richard Bingham, 36, from the wreckage. As he was being taken away on a gurney, he kept saying, “I’m sorry…I’m sorry. Get the people out!” He suffered a broken arm and several facial cuts. Running across the busy boulevard to assist in the relief, a couple in their early 60s, were unexpectedly hit by a large truck they failed to see coming their way.The wife, Billie Irwin, 61, died from complications to her injuries.

Crowds of people, many who had just attended the air show, had to be held back by police lines. As they watched, the rescue workers recovered debris and bodies for several hours. Airplane parts were taken away for further investigation. One of the last recovery efforts was performed by a tow truck that pulled the fuselage of the aircraft away from the restaurant, pulling apart a large section of its front wall. Clearing away the debris that had collected under the plane, fireman found a demolished car and two more bodies.

In total, the crash resulted in the deaths of 12 children and 10 adults, including the couple in the buried car. Twenty-eight others were wounded by in tragedy. Of the survivors was an eight-year-old child who lost nine family members: both parents, a sister, two brothers, two cousins, and two grandparents. There was also an entire family of four that never left after their last meal.

Farrell’s is famously known as a cheerful chain of restaurants with decorations and wait staff costumes recalling century-old ice cream parlors. Servers happily adorn cane hats, pin-striped vests, and old-fashioned ties, according to its website fact page History of Fun. The first enterprise opened in 1963 in Portland, OR. Over the last fifty years, the franchise has experienced both booming success and near obliteration. A recent revival is seeing Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor and its old-timey good-natured fun re-emerge nationwide, apparently taking its tragic and fatal curse along with it. By Stacy Feder

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William Penn Patrick ~

William Penn Patrick (March 31, 1930 – June 9, 1973) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, and fraudster. He was the owner of Holiday Magic, Leadership Dynamics, and Mind Dynamics. Patrick was a proponent of the sour grapes philosophy, and has been widely quoted as stating: "Those who condemn wealth are those who have none and see no chance of getting it."

William Penn Patrick, the owner of the F-86.

Patrick tried unsuccessfully to enter politics, first running against Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination for governor of California, and was later nominated by the California Theocratic Party for Vice President of the United States. Patrick was a member of the John Birch Society.

In 1972 an F-86 Sabre jet, owned by Patrick, crashed in the 1972 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident, killing 22 people on the ground. Patrick was not the pilot at that time, but a year later he died in a crash in his P-51D Mustang in Lakeport, California.

Political career ~

Patrick sought out the Republican nomination for governor of California, in 1966. Patrick alleged that a pollster, Mervin Field, had accepted money to influence a poll in the campaign. Mervin Field sued Patrick for libel, for damages of US $4 million, and was awarded US$300,000. Patrick later lost the nomination, to Ronald Reagan. The New Republic described Patrick's campaign strategy as that of "out-Reaganing Ronald Reagan". In 1967, Patrick formed a fundraising group to run for Thomas Kuchel's Senate seat. Patrick was later nominated for Vice President of the United States, in 1967, by the California Theocratic Party. The Los Angeles Times referred to Patrick as the "strangest politician". He was mainly popular among ultraconservative and ultra right political circles in California.

Businessman ~

Patrick began his experience in sales selling products door-to-door in Illinois. He was the owner of companies including Leadership Dynamics, a controversial company which was the first form of Large Group Awareness Training, and Holiday Magic, a door-to-door cosmetics company later termed by the United States Federal government to be fraudulent. Mind Dynamics was initially founded by Alexander Everett, and Patrick backed the company before buying it. Patrick's companies were later investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, on allegations of pyramid schemes. Leadership Dynamics folded amidst lawsuits and allegations of physical and sexual abuse.

Death ~

William Penn Patrick died on June 9, 1973, at age 43, in the crash of his privately owned P-51D Mustang aircraft near his farm at Clearlake Oaks, California. He was flying the plane at the time; after making a low pass, he pulled up steeply, stalled, and entered a spin from which he did not recover. Although he was a certified pilot, he had only 154 hours of flight time in the P-51D, and only about four hours over the preceding three months. He was flying with Christian George Hagert, 30, director of Holiday Magic of Helsinki, Finland, who also died in the crash.