The Special Olympics Plane Pull Breaks Records at Long Beach Airport (LGB)

F-18 Hornets simultaneously took off at the start of the event, giving onlookers a heck of a pre-show!

One team readies for the pull

The 2013 Plane Pull benefiting the Special Olympics in Southern California took off at Long Beach Airport raising more than $85,000. That is up from last year's record of $76,900. LGB has hosted the event for the last seven straight years.

The challenge was to see how fast each team could pull a Fed EX plane 12 feet. An average plane weighs 163,000 lbs. Eighteen teams competed, each donating at least $1,250 to the cause. The highest fundraising team came from Kia of Cerritos, raising $7,200.

The champions this year were the ELA/CHP Gashouse Gorillas with a winning score of 8.64 seconds. The true winners, of course, are the Special Olympics Athletes that benefit from the fundraiser. Funds raised by the event support year-round sport competition and 14,000 Special Olympics Athletes. To find out more go to www.sosc.org/planepull‎.

Kids were able to get in on the fun, by pulling a CHP plane 

A good-sported chicken waits for a dunk