PSA Flight 182

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PSA Flight 182 was a Pacific Southwest Airlines commercial flight that flew on a Sacramento-Los Angeles-San Diego route. Following a mid-air collision, the flight crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, killing all 135 on board, plus the two men on board a small aircraft and seven persons on the ground, on September 25, 1978.

At 9:01 a.m. on that day, N533PS, a Boeing 727-214 designated as PSA Flight 182, was over the North Park neighborhood of San Diego, beginning its final approach into Lindbergh Field. A Cessna 172, flown by two licensed pilots (not by a single student pilot as is often incorrectly stated), was overtaken by the faster jetliner and was struck by the right wing of the Boeing 727, sending both aircraft crashing into the neighborhood below.

The subsequent National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation concluded that the primary cause of the accident was the failure of the PSA flight crew to follow proper Air Traffic Control (ATC) procedures. The PSA jetliner's crew lost sight of the Cessna, in contravention of the ATC's instructions to "keep visual separation from that traffic". Errors on the part of ATC were also named as a contributing factor, including the use of visual separation procedures when radar clearances were available. Additionally the Cessna pilots, for reasons unknown, did not maintain their assigned heading after completing a practice instrument approach.

The PSA pilots reported that they saw the Cessna after being notified of its position by ATC, although cockpit voice recordings revealed that shortly thereafter the PSA pilots no longer kept the Cessna in sight and were speculating about its position; at one point the 727's captain radioed the tower, "Okay, we had it there a minute ago... I think he's passed off to our right". A study conducted by Boeing determined that the Cessna's target should have remained visible for sufficient time to correct the collision situation. Approach control on the ground picked up a conflict alert 19 seconds before the collision but did not relay this information to the aircraft because, according the approach co-ordinator, such alerts were commonplace even when there was no actual conflict.

Of the two licensed pilots in the Cessna, one, Martin B. Kazy Jr., possessed single-engine, multi-engine and instrument flight ratings, as well as a commercial certificate and an instrument flight instructor certificate. The other, David T. Boswell, possessed single-engine, multi-engine ratings and a commercial certificate and was at the time of the accident, practicing instrument flight under the instruction of Kazy in pursuit of his instrument rating.

The National Transportation Safety Board recommended the immediate implementation of a terminal radar service area around Lindbergh-San Diego International airport to provide for the separation of aircraft, and also recommended an immediate review of control procedures for all busy terminal areas. The impact of these recommendations is reflected in today's arrangement of airspace around Lindbergh Field -- a Class B area (formerly referred to as a Terminal Control Area) now exists around Lindbergh to provide for the separation of all aircraft operating in the area.

All 128 passengers and seven crew members on PSA Flight 182, both men on board the Cessna and seven people on the ground were killed. Nine other people on the ground were injured and 22 homes were destroyed or damaged. The PSA Flight 182 disaster remains the single worst aircraft accident in California history.

One of the victims on board PSA Flight 182 was Alan Tetelman, president of Failure Analysis, en route to investigate a U.S. Navy plane crash. Another victim was Richard Conway, a PSA pilot, 'deadheading' home from LA. Names of the PSA employees were on TV within the hour.

See also

• List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners

• Certification of Pilots in the United States
• St. Augustine High School

References

• Macarthur Job (1996). Air Disaster Volume 2

External links

• [AirDisaster.com special report on the PSA Flight 182 disaster]
• [Article about Flight 182] on PSA History Page
• [The full report of the NTSB investigation] into the PSA Flight 182 accident
• [Notable California Aviation Disasters Website] listing significant aviation accidents in California
• [San Diego magazine article about the PSA Disaster]

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