It sounds like he was at the same place on the field as I was. Airplane debris from the mid-air crash over Pacoima Junior High on January 31 . 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Just a quick note, Russ. I was amazed to run across your recording of the sounds of that tragic day. Always liked Rusty. The most incredible image of all was the open window in the cockpit area with smoke coming out of it and what appeared to be the pilot with his head partially out. Jan. 31, 1957 was a tragic day in the northern San Fernando Valley. Since you obviously have a much more personal connection to the story and the events of that day, Id like to know what you think of my version, and if you or anyone else involved has any comments, corrections or suggestions. My wife CeCe and I now live in Challis, Idaho. Ill shoot you an email. Im wondering if I had him as a teacher. Did your dad turn off the tape recorder, or did it shut off when the power failed? It gave me chills and brought me back to that day on the field. A lot of human misery occurred on that day. I have accrued over 2500 hours of flight and still an active civilian pilot. Related to the 1957 crash, I was 5 years old and playing on my parents front porch. To be honest i know it might be a burden for you but at the same time it will spread the knowledge about this plane crash even more. Then again, I was only five so everything probably sounded unusual. I saw many students injuries on that day. Yours is one of the more terrifying accounts of that day. Hi, my distant cousin was Evan Clark Meddy Elsner who was killed as a result of this crash. Have you considered posting somewhere permanent or giving the recording to the Smithsonian? I remember you as Rusty, a classmate of my late brother Steven. Was it the same recording I have here? I dont know if there were problems with the medical response, but I do know that valley residents demanded that test flights cease over the Valley and they did. Thank you so much for your interest and posting this piece of history. It always caught my eye, though, because it was one of the few labeled by hand. I found your Pacoima crash page very informative and well written. I was a student at Beachy Avenue School that day of 1/31/1957. My family was two houses from yours. I have been to that site, and youre right, there are some very interesting and moving entries there. Russ, Terrified, I couldnt even budge. Because of the sheer number of comments, this is a problem that crops up every so often on my pages, Pacoima Jr. High School Airplane Crash of 1957 (audio recording as it happened) and Eyewitness to the Carnage A Personal Account of the 1957 Pacoima Crash. And the Showman with large Jack Ritoli. She lived right on across the street from the school. Elementary School opened and I had to go there. Indeed, I owe a very heartfelt thanks to your dad my sister and dad were in the classrooms, and my mother and I were in one of the houses. He was serious about educating his students and always had a very classy demeanor. I looked up toward my right and saw a big airplane (I was in the second grade, about 7 years old) on fire. Maybe Richard was with us. [] event can be seen here. My name is Mark Masek, and Im the author of Hollywood Remains to Be Seen: A Guide to the Movie Stars Final Homes, a guidebook to find the final resting places of hundreds of Hollywood celebrities. But that day seems indelibly etched into the brains of those who were there, including my sister and father. Thanks to Gary and Russ. I will never know if that was the reason. My prayer to God is that everyone touched by this tragic event be touched by God in a special way to bring total healing. Youre right, fate definitely was on your and your classmates side that day. He lived just a couple of streets over from where we lived. The post Does the Harvard Kennedy School Serve the Peopleor Power? EveRuth ing was out of control..we ran out of building aND witnessed a devastating scene. Hello Phyllis, I was in the auditorium getting ready to graduate.LInda Lutrell was a very good friend of mine.I will never forget that day and just now listened to the recording.I was shocked at my reaction to it.I went to grade school and Jr. High with Linda and wouod love to connect with her again,its been years..My name then was Lana Brosamle.Linda was in our little group of girls.Pat Cox, Dorothy Alexander, Marlene Sherman. The news of the crash spread like wild fire through the school even though we were miles away. In 1957 a mid air collision over Pacoima Junior High killed 5 crew members, 3 children and injured 78. What caused the plane to break apart must have been due to extreme speed going down and turning in all directions. I remember your father as an extremely nice man. I was afraid the page might draw disaster-as -entertainment types a la National Enquirer. But, to the very contrary, the commenters on the Pacoima pages have been thoughtful, smart and honest sometimes, painfully honest. The event is depicted in the film La Bamba, the 1987 biopic of rock 'n' roll figure Ritchie Valens, who was a 15-year-old student at Pacoima Junior High School at the time of the disaster. I was soaked in oil, my heavy coat was ripped up from flying bits of metal but had no real injuries. It made me think of the crews that had responded to the real thing in Pacoima. I heard he came out of the Marine Corps, slim and buff. My brother graduated from Northridge State Univ and, ironically, went on to have a very successful career as a corporate pilot for over 40 years! I was hoping someone would tell me what they remember. When youre thankful that you were blown into a pool of hot airplane oil rather than being allowed to continue on your chosen path. Ah, the good old days. An estimated 75 more students on the school playground suffered critical and minor injuries. I can only imagine how weird and disturbing it would be to have such a pivotal life experience erased from memory. By now there seemed to be hundreds of people in the crash area. Hi Jill Pam often checks in to read the latest comments here. On January 31, 1957, a Douglas DC-7B transport plane crashed into the school yard of Pacoima Junior High School, 9919 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, after colliding with a Northrop F-89J Scorpion jet trainer plane. Because we were children, and in an age when you simply go on with life, those I know of have done just that. Im glad I was able to provide a forum for a few of the witnesses and survivors. Such a sad day for so many! I was in class, a distance from the ball fields, but we saw the flash and thought it was a bomb. In 1957, a plane collision crash killed seven people two pilots and two crew members, three children and injured about 75 other students at Pacoima Junior High School, now Pacoima Middle School, during a graduation ceremony where 800 children were in attendance, according to the New York Times and the Aviation Safety Network database. It seemed as if hundreds of mothers and their little children gathered at the fence line, frantic and crying. We lived only a few blocks from the school and my mother had been out hanging laundry. After wed been there for a while a man named Kurt Adams came to see me.he told me he was the navigator that ejected from the jet and the only survivor of the two planes. If anyone has any information on her they could share, we would be much obliged. My uncles story was one that has not been told and I think it added to your blog rather than detracting from it. It would strictly be for my own use I wouldnt post it or use it in any other public way. On January 31, 1957, a Douglas DC-7B transport plane crashed into the school yard of Pacoima Junior High School, 9919 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, after colliding with a Northrop F-89J Scorpion jet trainer plane. Both escaped injury. It was organized under the California Office of Emergency Services. Hell, I was only in the 4th grade, I had watched the movies, but this was nothing like the movies, this was real. She told him she didnt know where I was. I miss my father and wonder what life would be like had he not perished; I was only 9 years old at the time. I thought we were being bombed so I immediately dropped to the floor and assumed the duck and cover position, remembers Pam. Because of the oxide stripping and other deterioration factors, I transferred the recording to 1/4-inch reel-to-reel, casette and, ultimately, digital. A policeman came by later to see if I had come home. I dont remember hearing the explosion but I ran over to the windows and remember seeing the black smoke and a lot of debris twirling in the air. Hey, Bob He was just a really good guy and very well liked. Im curious, did the sound on the recording sound like what you remember hearing? On that day, two planes collided in mid-air, crashing to the ground in the school yard of Pacoima Junior High. Talk about different times. Not to mention, the lifelong fear of flying that many witnesses have to this day. As we ran outside I could see the carnage from the crash, some bodies and pieces of plane laying everywhere. And this was 2 years before the Buddy Holly crash. And when released from the auditorium, what we saw. So after that i googled plane crash school and this tragic airplane crash was the first that came up. About 80 students stood in the schoolyard transfixed, watching the plane hurtle toward them. I was at Montegue Elementary School right across from our house. Thanks for sharing the audio. However, dozens of students on the Pacoima gym field were injured, many seriously. As you can see from the comments here, you are not alone. With the help of other Paramedics, Nurses, Physicians, Fire Chiefs, private ambulance companies, and other Orange County Agencies, the plan is in place and several Mass Casualty Drills are put on every year. I remember there was an electrical problem that caused his amp to repeatedly emit a very loud flatulent-like sound at about a billion decibels, while the lead microphone was sending blue arcs of house current into my nose. Mary Jo Losso-Engle, Los Angeles, CA. My parents and I never spoke of the plane crash again. Pacoima Jr. High School Airplane Crash of 1957 (audio recording as it happened) Photos accident date: 31-01-1957 type: Douglas DC-7B registration: N8210H Map This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network's opinion as to the cause of the accident. Look in your email I wrote you. After talking to the school, she told me that school would be closed for a few days until they could clean off the fence. If you would like to help Terry fill in the blank spots in his memory, just write a comment on this page to that effect and I will pass the info along to Terry. [1][2][3], The DC-7B, which was earmarked for delivery to Continental Airlines, took off from the Santa Monica Airport at 10:15a.m. on its first functional test flight, with a crew of four Douglas personnel aboard. Terry Brown. My physical injuries were minor, my clothes and jacket kept me from getting burned by the hot oil. I still hear the sound of the crash, and the moments after. I attended Fernaneles Elementer, in sun valley 6 th grade. Ronnie was killed on January 31, 1957, when three students on the playground of Pacoima Junior High School were among the eight persons killed as the result of a midair collision between a four-engine Douglas DC-7B airliner and a United States Air Force Northrop F-89J Scorpion jet fighter in the skies above nearby. Im glad I was down, because there was an engine embedded in the asphalt 25 feet away in the same direction I was running. Mary Jo (and Kathy) Losso. As I got older, I guessed that the jets that were coming and going were probably working the other incident, the downed Scorpion. I only got to watch it for a few seconds. (And I hope you dont mind that I included a link to your page.). Karen Bakken. The California Fire Service has an organization known as FIRESCOPE which was tasked with developing and implementing the fire service Incident Command System (ICS). office waitingfor permission to retrieve the jacket she had forgotten on the athletic field when the DC-7 came down on the field. I sat in the rear of the room closest to the back door. Im not sure why you cant get the audio to play. Hi, Dave as well as monks first hand account. Our big issues revolved around determine which patients should be transported first and how much treatment should be done at the scene prior to transport. Maybe 500 to 1000 feet off the ground. Against the sound of 800 frightened students and a distant fire bell, an unintelligible announcement is made on the P.A. 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