Thomas Womack Jr., El Cajon Within a month, Robinson recanted, explaining that a police officer who had been involved in transporting prisoners had given him the information at a prisoner-processing center. PSA Flight 1771 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 was a commercial flight that crashed near Cayucos, California, December 7, 1987. Louise T. Martin, San Diego Pacific Southwest Airlines flight 182 was a popular early-morning commuter flight terminating at San Diego's Lindbergh Field. Most of the people now living in the neighborhood moved there after the PSA 182 crash. Because the controller believed that the flight crew “knew as much or more about the traffic than I did…,” he “did not relay any further information to him.” All of this helped to seal both aircrafts’ doom.31, There seemed to be a state of confusion among PSA 182’s cabin crew. Frantic calls to 9-1-1 reported body parts strewn about the neighborhood and fires everywhere. I get in fresh touch with memories that will never go away. A mid-air collision between a Cessna 172 and a Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) Boeing 727 caused both planes to crash into the neighborhood below. The Journal of San Diego History While utilizing VFR, it would have to navigate and manipulate the aircraft utilizing a “see and avoid” approach to visually avoid obstructions, especially other aircraft.5, PSA 182’s assigned flight corridor would take it diagonally across eastern Pacific Beach to Mission Valley, before turning eastward toward El Cajon. Recognizing the letters “PSA” on its dorsal intake, he thought, “Damn! Discover PSA Flight 182 Crash Site in San Diego, California: An inconspicuous suburban street corner is the site of San Diego's worst air disaster. While rushing toward a burning house, he stopped in his tracks. In response, at 08:59:01 Lindbergh Tower instructed him to maintain VFR procedures no higher than 3,500 feet and to contact the Miramar Approach Control Center for further instructions.21 After doing so, at 08:59:57 Miramar told him that they had him on radar at an altitude of 1,500 feet, and reiterated Lindbergh’s directions to stay below 3,500 feet along a northeasterly 70 degree heading.22, Previously, at 08:59.30, Miramar had notified PSA 182 of “traffic [at] twelve o’clock, one mile, northbound.” Captain McFeron responded, “We’re looking.” Six seconds later, Miramar reported Cessna N7711G (Boswell and Kazy’s aircraft) as “additional traffic” on a northeast course at an altitude of 1,400 feet and climbing. Catherine Fons, La Jolla San Diego History Center Now! Carl Miller, Davis There were few bodies to speak of—only pieces…I was no stranger to dead bodies, but I wasn’t ready to see the torso of a stewardess slammed against a car. Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 was midair when it collided with a Cessna 172 aircraft, which is a private plane. The San Diego Approach Control at Miramar would be responsible for all aircraft flying within this invisible 30-mile diameter zone between 12,500 and 2,500 feet altitude. Lost Souls of Flight 182 Crash Continue to Wander San Diego. Flight 182’s impact with the ground was documented 3¼10ths of a second past 9:02. Jim Stinnett, Los Angeles On September 25, 1978, as Flight 182 descended to 4,000 feet above Mission Bay, Miramar directed Captain McFeron to notify Lindbergh Field’s air traffic control that he was now entering its Terminal Service Area, which would provide him with radar vectoring, sequencing and traffic advisories prior to his landing on runway 27.15 Before transitioning control, Miramar advised Captain McFeron that a Cessna 172 Skylark, call sign N7711G, was heading in his direction.16, The Cessna N7711G was owned by the Gibbs Flite Center which operated a flight school out of Montgomery Field, a small general aviation airport located four miles northeast of Lindbergh. Don't forget that PSA also had the crash caused by a disgruntled employee shooting the pilots at 27,000 ft to commit suicide and get back at them. Published: 1978 Play Audio Archive Story - UPI. Earl Lohnes, Niantic, CT Jeri Dickson, Los Angeles By placing this designation over Lindbergh Field airspace, all aircraft flying within it had to be equipped with an operating on-board transponder, making them clearly visible on ground controllers’ radar screens. Originally set up as an emergency command post and Red Cross triage facility, it soon became an overcrowded temporary morgue.77, At the gym, nurses numbered and inventoried each bag’s contents. All 135 passengers and crew perished in the crash. Does anyone have anymore pictures/information about this crash than what say airdisaster.com or aircrash.com has? Jane Whyte-Spitz, Bonita On board was a crew of 7 and 128 passengers, of which 30 were PSA airline employees "deadheading" to work in San Diego. One of PSA’s Boeing 727-100 airliners flying from San Francisco to Ontario had bumped the right wing of a Cessna 182L aircraft while the latter was climbing to its cruising altitude. Not that I know of. Lindbergh Field is presently in its original location.98 Following a one-year investigation, the NTSB concluded that PSA 182’s cabin crew was primarily responsible for the mid-air collision that led to the crash because they had not notified Lindbergh Control that they had lost visual contact with Cessna N7711G.99, Pressure from flight crew and airline pilot associations, however, compelled the NTSB to reopen the case.100 The Air Line Pilots Association, for example, pointed out a major flaw in the “see-and-avoid approach.” They argued that such an approach frequently produced “erroneous identification by pilots of air traffic reported by controllers.”101 Another critic, J. W. Olcott, proposed in the August 1979 issue of Business and Commercial Aviation that the PSA flight crew had a “significant factor working against them…the subconscious belief that [Air Traffic Control] and the radar environment…would protect them from the catastrophe of a midair collision.”102, While it did not exonerate the PSA flight crew, an amended NTSB 1982 report cited other factors that contributed to the crash. Incredulously, Miramar did not inform PSA 182 or Lindbergh Control about the conflict alert warning.42, At 09:01:47.9, just as PSA Flight 182 tipped its right wing down into banked turn roughly 2,600 feet above the intersection of 30th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, it overtook and struck Cessna N7711G with its nose wheel. The transponders relayed information identifying each aircraft’s Call Number and computed air speed and altitude to both Lindbergh and Miramar, the groundbased air traffic controllers. There is no memorial on Dwight Street to honor the victims, first responders, or volunteers.114 The three bronze memorial plaques dedicated to the crash victims are located some distance from the crash site. More than 20 residences were damaged or destroyed. After setting up a fire command center at the Sav-On drug store parking lot at University Avenue and 32nd Street, SDFD Battalion Chief Robert Osby jogged seven blocks south to the crash site to ascertain the situation.64 Arriving ahead of most city fire companies, Chief Osby was stunned to see a huge aircraft tail section lying in the street. In 1978, Trevor's son Charles died in the crash of PSA Flight 182, followed by the death of her husband Milton from a brain tumor in 1979. PSA was a great airline but was also cursed. I leaned back in my chair looking out the front door and saw flight 182 at about 4,000 feet and on fire. I usually get out and walk past the rebuilt homes and past the sidewalks and streets where so many died. Author’s collection. Meetings, Lectures & Workshops – History Center. By Thomas Shess. Devastated by these losses, she returned to Manhattan for some years, living in a Fifth Avenue apartment and taking a few acting roles amid a busy social life. Michael Sulit, Del Mar Thomas Masker, Monterey The plane crash happened in 1978 over San Diego. Don't forget that PSA also had the crash caused by a disgruntled employee shooting the pilots at 27,000 ft to commit suicide and get back at them. Due to mandated FAA limitations on working hours, some flight crew personnel were restricted from operating the aircraft on return flights to San Diego. What Happened Here by Bonnie ZoBell. Flight 182 crashed into an intersection. David Bernard, Santa Monica In San Diego a major PSA commercial airliner, Flight 182, crashed after colliding with a small Cessna. That was in a field but must have been terrifying girl the passengers. The collision occurred at approximately 2,600 feet (790 m) and broke the Cessna, and the 727's right wing and empennage, to pieces. Daniel Bruce Urdahl, San Diego He was learning the intricacies of the aircraft’s ILS or Instrument Landing System.17 Once certified, Boswell could land any ILS-equipped aircraft at night or under adverse weather conditions following an airport-emitted radio beam without seeing its runway until just before touching down.18, Although it was the nation’s busiest single runway airport, Lindbergh Field was the only airport in San Diego County set up for ILS certification training. St. Augustine High School priests Father James Clifford and Father John Ranallo suffered shock after what they saw before them.89 As he knelt over a yellow plastic body bag containing what looked like a human being, Father Clifford confided, “John, I don’t think I can do this.” “I can’t either,” said the young priest, “but, maybe we can do it together” They administered last rites at the temporary morgue for the rest of the day.90 They regarded the simple act as “The last touch that can be given to a fellow human being in the name of the family who couldn’t say goodbye to them.” Father Ranallo later confessed that “At least [it] was something we could do when we saw the futility” [of our being there].91, Weeks, months, and years later, many first responders suffered from bouts of melancholia, crying for no reason or waking up from nightmares brought about by what is now called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.92 As one first responder, a uniformed serviceman, noted at the crash site, “Now you know what we went through in Vietnam.”93. 1649 El Prado, Suite #3 The crash on the morning of Sept. 25 killed all aboard both planes and seven people on the ground. Jimmie Kelley, Savannah, Ga. Paula Blake, Playa del Rey I've searched around and found a good deal of info, but not many photos. In 1991, a local San Diego firm, Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems or IVHS Technologies, developed and introduced similar anti-collision technology for automobiles. At 9 a.m., however, the sky was clear, the temperature just hitting 80 degrees. Richard Plaskoff, Los Angeles San Diego Remembers Victims of PSA Flight 182 Tragedy in North Park On Sept. 25, 1978, PSA Flight 182 crashed midair with a single-engine Cessna over North Park, killing a total of 144 people Barbara Jackson, Los Angeles