The Los Angeles Lakers dedicated a new basketball court to residents in Carroll, Iowa to commemorate the safe landing of a plane carrying the Minneapolis Lakers team on January 18, 1960. The franchise donated $25,000 towards the construction of the new outdoor court.
Vice President of the Los Angeles Lakers, Jeanie Buss, and former Lakers forward, Tommy Hawkins, attended a dedication ceremony for the basketball court.
"It truly is a turning point in Lakers history because I believe had the team not made it that night, the Lakers as we know it wouldn't exist today," said Buss.
The airplane was heading back to Minneapolis after a game in St. Louis when it was caught in a heavy snowstorm. With the plane low on fuel, the lights going out, and the communication equipment failing, the plane was forced to land on a cornfield in Carroll.
Piloted by military veterans Vernon Ullman and Harold Gifford, all 23 on board the plane emerged from the landing unharmed.
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