Sunday marks 38 years since the deadliest aircraft disaster to date in California’s history: the Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 crash over San Diego’s North Park community that killed 144 people.
At 9:03 a.m. – the exact time the plane happened – San Diego city leaders and those impacted by the tragedy gather at the site of the plane crash for an annual memorial, paying tribute to the victims who lost their lives.
[G] Victims of PSA Flight 182 Crash Remembered
The names of the 144 victims will be read aloud and a flower for each will be placed in a wreath. Their names will also be written on the sidewalk in chalk along with personal messages.
On Sept. 25, 1978, PSA Flight 182 and a single-engine Cessna collided midair over North Park.
A total of 144 people were killed in the collision, including 135 people aboard PSA Flight 182, two men aboard the Cessna and seven people on the ground. A total of 22 homes in the area were destroyed or damaged as the Boeing 727 hit the ground.
The wreckage came to rest near Boundary and Felton streets.
In 2014, residents involved in a PSA Flight 182 committee began a push for a permanent memorial to be erected at the site of the crash. Currently, the closest memorial is a plaque beneath a tree at the North Park library.
