A cockpit voice recorder captured a crew member's heartbreaking final words moments before Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 collided with a Cessna over San Diego, killing all 144 people on board and on the ground.
The crash occurred on September 25, 1978, when the Boeing 727 collided with a Cessna Skyhawk N7711G and plummeted into the city of San Diego. All 135 people aboard the plane died, along with seven people on the ground, including five women and two children.
Chilling cockpit recording
Local air traffic controllers had alerted the Boeing 727 crew to remain vigilant of the Cessna flying near them, but a few minutes before the crash, they lost sight of it. First Officer Robert Fox, 38, discussed the smaller aircraft's location with Captain James McFeron, 42.
"Yeah... I don't see him now," Fox says, then asks: "Are we clear of that Cessna?" 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."
Final moments on board
Moments later, the 727 is struck. McFeron exclaims: "What have we got here?" Fox responds in a state of panic: "We're hit man, we are hit." McFeron then communicates with air traffic controllers, saying, "Tower, we're going down, this is PSA."
As he grasps the impending disaster, he utters: "This is it baby!" In the heart-wrenching moment that the plane plummets into the city, McFeron addresses the passengers, instructing them to "Brace yourself". An unidentified voice in the cockpit sends a poignant message to their mother, saying, "Ma, I love you", as the plane impacts the ground.
Deadliest air disaster at the time
In total, 144 people died, including seven crew members, 30 additional employees, two Cessna occupants and seven locals. At the time, it was America's deadliest commercial air disaster, only to be surpassed eight months later when American Airlines Flight 191 crashed in Chicago on May 25, 1979.
