OT: Pats fans killed by flying lawnmower at Shea Stadium 36 years ago today

File this under truth is stranger than fiction.

Grim Reaper

RIP Patriots fans.

The group's model air show, a popular entertainment previously presented hundreds of times at halftimes and other events, featured radio-controlled airplanes that performed maneuvers around the stadium, engaged in aerial dogfights, and showcased flying model planes crafted in unusual shapes.

I bet that was the last show they did at any stadiums, can you say James Sokolove

That's very sad. More importantly, tho, the balls were inflated to the proper PSI that game.

Horrible. I'll bet the victims families were never compensated.

Crazy thing was, I was AT that game ! When the flying lawnmower took off from the 50 yard line, it was an amazing sight as it rolled down the field going faster and faster before it lifted off, started to fly, and the went right through the goal posts like a field goal. People were going nuts cheering as it flew around the stadium making turns, it was pretty neat, until all of a sudden lost control and crashed into the lower stands (I was higher up behind one end zone, crashed to my left in the lower stands). We saw it hit a crowd of people and didn't know it had done such terrible damage, killing the Pat's fan, until after the game when we left the stadium and heard people talking about a guy dying.

Craziest thing I ever saw at a football game. Pats lost 28-27 I believe, after having a late lead. I was not a happy camper since I had gone with a Jet's fan, but he was a cool dude, not a smack talker.

scott99 said:

Crazy thing was, I was AT that game ! When the flying lawnmower took off from the 50 yard line, it was an amazing sight as it rolled down the field going faster and faster before it lifted off, started to fly, and the went right through the goal posts like a field goal. People were going nuts cheering as it flew around the stadium making turns, it was pretty neat, until all of a sudden lost control and crashed into the lower stands (I was higher up behind one end zone, crashed to my left in the lower stands).

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I've been a Pats fan since 1984 and I never heard this story before. My dad has been a fan since 1960 and he never heard about it either.

Shea was always a dump. Must have been even worse in 79.

NYPatsFan said:

I've been a Pats fan since 1984 and I never heard this story before. My dad has been a fan since 1960 and he never heard about it either.

Shea was always a dump. Must have been even worse in 79.

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I've told this story a million times to my friends and think I've discussed it here before too. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen at at football game. It was at one point (at the beginning, when it took off and went through the goal posts) one of the coolest things I had seen to that point (I was 17) and then the most horrific thing as it went out of control. I believe Shea Stadium was 17 years old in 1979, so it was quite dumpy. Having been born and raised in Queens NY, I got to see more Pats/Jets games at Shea than at Foxboro.

Adding a note here. My earlier post in this thread mentioned we heard about the guy dying when we left the stadium, in reality people thought he looked dead after the accident, he actually didn't die until a couple days later. We left the stadium after the game thinking he had died already. Just wanted to clarify that.

Stupid azz Rat fan proving the Green Moron Axiom once again...

I was at that game and last year when I saw Grogan he brought that game up to me. Crazy!

NYPatsFan said:

I've been a Pats fan since 1984 and I never heard this story before. My dad has been a fan since 1960 and he never heard about it either.

Shea was always a dump. Must have been even worse in 79.

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i've been a pats fan since the early 60's and i've never heard of it.

Was Goodell working for the Jets then?

Anyone know how the inevitable civil suits were resolved?

raduray said:

Anyone know how the inevitable civil suits were resolved?

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I remember reading that the victim's father (I think) filed a $10 million lawsuit against the jets and the remote control club that flew the plane, but I never heard how the case ended

If something like that happened today, the internet would break...

raduray said:

Anyone know how the inevitable civil suits were resolved?

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When Things Fail or Fall: Personal Injury and Negligence | Sensors and Journalism

On December 9, 1979, John Bowen, a 20-year-old from Nashua, N.H., was attending a Jets-Patriots football game in Shea Stadium (ancient history) when he was struck in the head by a “radio controlled model airplane” that was part of the halftime show. He died six days later from brain injury.2later, a $10-million damage suit was filed in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. Named in the suit were the Jets; the Radio Control Association; and Philip Cushman, who designed, built and provided the model airplane. The settlement amount was not disclosed.

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It's common for settlement amounts to be sealed and confidential, like that. The insurance companies that pay them don't want any potential plaintiffs to have any useful information about how deep their pockets really are.

scott99 said:

Crazy thing was, I was AT that game ! When the flying lawnmower took off from the 50 yard line, it was an amazing sight as it rolled down the field going faster and faster before it lifted off, started to fly, and the went right through the goal posts like a field goal. People were going nuts cheering as it flew around the stadium making turns, it was pretty neat, until all of a sudden lost control and crashed into the lower stands (I was higher up behind one end zone, crashed to my left in the lower stands). We saw it hit a crowd of people and didn't know it had done such terrible damage, killing the Pat's fan, until after the game when we left the stadium and heard people talking about a guy dying.

Craziest thing I ever saw at a football game. Pats lost 28-27 I believe, after having a late lead. I was not a happy camper since I had gone with a Jet's fan, but he was a cool dude, not a smack talker.

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Now I know you made up this story.

(Sorry for the joke in this thread...it is a really sad story. I just had to go after the low hanging fruit, though.)

Triumph said:

Was Goodell working for the Jets then?

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I don't know but I can tell you what the Jets organization did for the family....yup, nothing.

Today in Patriots History a very weird factoid.. was Kensil and his daddy there???

Never heard this story before, but that was before the days of news cycling continuously and the rest of social media..

Kevin Rourke received emergency room treatment for a concussion and was admitted to a hospital for additional observation, while John Bowen, whom one observer at the scene described as looking "like he had been attacked by an ax," underwent emergency surgery that evening. Although Rourke recovered satisfactorily and was eventually discharged from the hospital, Bowen died of his injuries four days later.

Police and prosecutors began an investigation when it became apparent that Bowen was unlikely to survive his injuries, but Queens district attorney John J. Santucci said authorities "had no reason to believe [the incident] was anything other than an accident," and the matter was judged to be a civil issue rather than a criminal one.

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That's how I want to go.