{"id":507326,"date":"2026-10-25T07:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T07:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/507326\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T07:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T07:42:13","slug":"first-halloween-fly-in-draws-a-stratospheric-crowd-in-sacramento","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/507326\/","title":{"rendered":"First Halloween fly-in draws a stratospheric crowd in Sacramento"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Antoinette<\/p>\n

Antoinette Jones, dressed as a witch, hands out candy in front of a cartoonishly decorated orange plane during a Halloween fly-in at Sacramento Executive Airport on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.<\/p>\n

NATHANIEL LEVINE<\/p>\n

nlevine@sacbee.com<\/p>\n

A Halloween-themed fly-in proved a spooky success Saturday at Sacramento Executive Airport, with crowds vastly exceeding the expectations of event organizers.<\/p>\n

With a couple of hundred attendees expected, more than 2,000 people had arrived by the halfway point of the inaugural event, which was hosted by Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 1714.<\/a><\/p>\n

Less than an hour in, helpers were being dispatched to replenish the dwindling stock of candy. The airport\u2019s parking lot was full, and people were parking across Freeport Boulevard in nearby neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe line is still out the door,\u201d said EAA 1714 President Anastasia Long. \u201cWe have received zero complaints so far \u2014 they are so excited to be part of this crazy event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caitlin Mullan, who owns an aircraft rental business called Flight Level 510 with her husband that operates out of Sacramento Executive Airport, said the free trunk-or-treat-style event was designed as a fun way to get families involved in the aviation community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve got all the airplanes decorated and kids are allowed to walk up to it and grab candy,\u201d she said. Her company sponsored the event.<\/p>\n

Pilots Caleb Ragan, Viliam Nowitki and Travis Boyd, all 19, flew in from Livermore to hand out candy under the wing of their plane, dressed in flight suits like those worn in the film \u201cTop Gun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to do some volunteer work and help out the community,\u201d said Boyd. \u201cWhat better way to help the community out than pass out candy and share the joy of aviation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Travis Travis Boyd, left, Viliam Nowitki, center, and Caleb Ragan, all 19, hand out candy while dressed in flight suit costumes from the film \u201cTop Gun\u201d during a Halloween fly-in at Sacramento Executive Airport on Saturday. The three pilots flew in from Livermore for the event. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com \"Pilot Pilot Nick Garner of San Jose hands out his final package of chips \u2013 itself a substitute for candy \u2013 to Revrie, 9, in front of his green AutoGyro Cavalon during a Halloween fly-in at Sacramento Executive Airport on Saturday. Garner\u2019s stash of candy was soon restocked. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com \"Caitlin Caitlin Mullan, who owns an aircraft rental business called Flight Level 510, watches as a costumed child picks out candy during a Halloween fly-in at Sacramento Executive Airport on Saturday. Mullan\u2019s company sponsored the event. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com \"Austin, Austin, 8, an aspiring pilot from Sacramento, wears a jet costume as he looks for candy during a Halloween fly-in at Sacramento Executive Airport on Saturday. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com \"Amirah, Amirah, 6, and Frannie, 5, hand out candy to a Buzz Lightyear dressed child during a Halloween fly-in at Sacramento Executive Airport on Saturday. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com \"Estee, Estee, 5, and Andee, 7, select their favorite candy during a Halloween fly-in at Sacramento Executive Airport on Saturday. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com \"Jack Jack Skellington, a character from animated film \u201cThe Nightmare Before Christmas,\u201d watches over the Halloween fly-in from the control tower at Sacramento Executive Airport on Saturday. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

This story was originally published October 24, 2026 at 3:27 PM.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Nathaniel Levine<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Bee visuals editor Nathaniel Levine joined the staff in 2003. His work has received awards from the Society of News Design, the Best of the West journalism competition and the California News Publishers Association, among others. A native Californian, Levine grew up in Grass Valley and attended UC Davis.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Antoinette Jones, dressed as a witch, hands out candy in front of a cartoonishly decorated orange plane during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-507326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}