A haunting in-flight recording has revealed the final last words of the captain and crew members in the cockpit of Pacific Southwest Airlines flight 182, which collided with a Cessna 172 four-seater light aircraft, killing 144 people – including passengers on board and bystanders on the ground.
The devastating accident, which took place on a sunny autumn morning in California on September 25, 1978, was the deadliest air crash in American history at the time.
On that fateful morning, a Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727 was scheduled to take off from Sacramento to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and onwards to San Diego Airport (Lindbergh Field) in California.
Flying conditions were optimal, with clear skies and good visibility.
However, less than an hour into the flight, Pacific Southwest Airlines flight 182 collided with a Cessna Skyhawk N7711G, which had a student and instructor on board.
The initial impact killed all Flight 182’s seven crew members and 128 passengers and the two Cessna occupants.
The wreckage then rained down over San Diego, killing a further seven residents on the ground, bringing the total killed to 144.
A harrowing in-flight recording revealed the haunting last words of the captain and crew members in the cockpit moments before the horror collision that claimed countless lives.
Local flight controllers warned the Boeing 727 crew to stay aware of the Cessna that was also in the area – but a few minutes before the crash, they lost sight of it. First Officer Robert Fox, 38, could be heard speculating with Captain James McFeron, 42, about the smaller plane’s whereabouts.
“Yeah… I don’t see him now,” Fox says, then asks: “Are we clear of that Cessna?” To which Flight Engineer Martin Wahne replies: “Supposed to be.” There seems to be laughter before Captain McFeron says: “I saw him at one o’clock, he’s probably behind us now.”
The first officer subsequently called for the gear to be lowered for landing but the light aircraft was actually just below it.
At the moment of impact, the Cessna pitched nose-up and collided with the right wing of the Boeing 727.
Seconds later, the 727 is hit and McFeron says: “What have we got here?”, to which Fox responds in panic: “We’re hit man, we are hit.”
McFeron can then be heard talking to air traffic controllers, “Tower, we’re going down, this is PSA.” And when he realizes the catastrophe that is about to happen, he says: “This is it baby!”
As the plane comes hurtled towards the city, McFeron gives passengers a tragic final address, telling them to “Brace yourself”.
An unidentified voice in the cockpit seizes their final moment to send a heart-rending message to their mum.
They can be heard saying, “Ma, I love you”, as the plane hits the ground.
Five women and two children were among the 144 killed in the horror collision that has haunted America’s aviation industry ever since.
However, America’s deadliest commercial air disaster was soon surpassed as eight months later American Airlines Flight 191 crashed in Chicago on May 25, 1979, killing 273 on board.
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