SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) — Billy Ross, a survivor of the
1960 plane crash that killed 16 members of the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
football team, has died at age 78.
A university statement says Ross died Monday in Bakersfield, Calif. The cause was not released.
Ross
was an offensive tackle on the 1959 and 1960 Mustang football teams. He
was 25 when the team’s flight crashed at the Toledo, Ohio, airport on
Oct. 29, 1960. Sixteen teammates and six other people were killed. Cal Poly had played Bowling Green
State University the afternoon of the crash.
Ross
was among 26 survivors but suffered severe burns and spent seven months
in a Toledo-area hospital for skin grafts and rehabilitation.
Ross
graduated from Cal Poly in 1963 and became a high school teacher and
football coach until severe foot pain from crash injuries forced him out
of coaching.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) — Billy Ross, a survivor of the
1960 plane crash that killed 16 members of the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
football team, has died at age 78.
A university statement says Ross died Monday in Bakersfield, Calif. The cause was not released.
Ross
was an offensive tackle on the 1959 and 1960 Mustang football teams. He
was 25 when the team’s flight crashed at the Toledo, Ohio, airport on
Oct. 29, 1960. Sixteen teammates and six other people were killed. Cal Poly had played Bowling Green
State University the afternoon of the crash.
Ross
was among 26 survivors but suffered severe burns and spent seven months
in a Toledo-area hospital for skin grafts and rehabilitation.
Ross
graduated from Cal Poly in 1963 and became a high school teacher and
football coach until severe foot pain from crash injuries forced him out
of coaching.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.