Category: Auto News

Watch this GMC pickup crash through a wall into a Florida airport terminal

A man in Florida has been accused of driving his pickup truck through airport grounds and through a wall into the airport's baggage area. It is unclear whether or not the incident was on purpose or an accident, but the shocking scene was captured by numerous cameras and angles. The driver sustained serious injuries but nobody inside the airport was hurt. 

The wild crash happened at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport at about 3 a.m. on December 19, 2019, according to the Herald-Tribune. Reportedly, the 2015 GMC Sierra was seen driving erratically on a nearby highway earlier in the night, but officers were unable to catch the driver. The truck ended up driving through a chain-link fence, down a service road, and through a wall into the airport's main terminal.

As seen in the clips, the truck smashed through the wall and hit a car rental service desk, behind which two people stood. Luckily, the secured desk prevented the truck from hitting the employees, and they escaped without any injuries. The area was mostly empty due to the late hour.

In addition to the damage caused to the building, the truck also hit a luggage conveyor belt. Total damages are estimated to be around $250,000. Read more about the crash on WWSB or the Herald-Tribune.

Full-size Pierce Arrow Pikes Peak car built out of gingerbread

Fancy hotels love a big ol' fancy gingerbread sculpture this time of year. Forbes Travel lists a few of them, the exhibitions including a 10-foot-tall streetcar in at the Four Seasons New Orleans and an 18-foot-tall lighthouse at Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour. The Broadmoor, Colorado's luxury resort near Pikes Peak, has been in the gingerbread extravaganza game since 1964 and lately put together some stunning creations. In 2017, the hotel's pastry team built a 12-foot tall, 3.7-million-calorie gingerbread church, then followed that in 2018 with a 13.5-foot-tall replica of the original 1918 resort. This year the dimensions grow but in the horizontal, and the subject matter into our wheelhouse, with the resort's pastry team creating a 14-foot long replica of The Broadmoor Special, a 1918 Pierce Arrow Touring Car converted to race in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb eight times through the 1920s.

A gent named Spencer Penrose built the Pikes Peak highway to the mountain's summit, founded the hill climb race in 1916, and the resort that opened in 1918. To whip up interest in the ventures, he gave the The Broadmoor's master mechanic, Angelo Cimino, and his chauffeur, Harry McMillen, his Pace Arrow Touring Car and directions to turn the limousine into a racer. The car that became known as the Yellow Devil climbed the 14,433-foot mountain eight times from 1922 to 1932, finishing fourth in 1926 and 1930. The hotel submitted the Yellow Devil to a two-year restoration in time to run the race's 100-year anniversary in 2016. The car is now on display in the hotel's Penrose Heritage Museum.

The Broadmoor's done us all a favor by providing the recipe for the 14-foot Yellow Devil gingerbread replica. It took the 15-strong pastry crew two weeks to create, leaving any amateur chef plenty of time to get another one built before the holidays. Sourcing the recipe's 375 pounds of all-purpose flower, 482 pounds of sugar, 300 pounds of dark chocolate and 700 egg whites shouldn't be difficult. Locating the more arcane ingredients like "10 lbs of Joy" and "2 Magical Wood Workers" could prove a tad more challenging.