Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182
PSA Flight 182 seconds after the collision with the Cessna 172 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 25, 1978 |
| Summary | Mid-air collision |
| Site | North Park, near San Diego International Airport, San Diego, California, United States 32°44′38.2″N 117°07′13.4″W / 32.743944°N 117.120389°W |
| Total fatalities | 144 |
| Total injuries | 9 |
| Total survivors | 0 |
| First aircraft | |
| N533PS, the Boeing 727 involved in the accident three months prior to the collision | |
| Type | Boeing 727-214 |
| Operator | Pacific Southwest Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | PS182 |
| ICAO flight No. | PSA182 |
| Call sign | PSA 182 |
| Registration | N533PS |
| Flight origin | Sacramento International Airport |
| Stopover | Los Angeles International Airport |
| Destination | San Diego International Airport |
| Occupants | 135 |
| Passengers | 128 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | 135 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Second aircraft | |
| A Cessna 172M similar to the one involved in the accident | |
| Type | Cessna 172M |
| Operator | Gibbs Flite Center, Inc. |
| Call sign | CESSNA 7711 GOLF |
| Registration | N7711G |
| Flight origin | Montgomery Field, San Diego, California |
| Occupants | 2 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Fatalities | 2 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Ground casualties | |
| Ground fatalities | 7 |
| Ground injuries | 9 |
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 was a scheduled flight on September 25, 1978 by Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), from Sacramento to San Diego (SAN), with a stopover at Los Angeles (LAX). The aircraft involved was a Boeing 727-214 (registration: N533PS), collided mid-air with a private Cessna 172 (light aircraft; N7711G) over San Diego. It was Pacific Southwest Airlines' first fatal accident and it remains the deadliest air disaster in California history. At the time, it was the deadliest air crash to occur in the United States and remained so until the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 in May 1979. With the exception of terrorism, it is now currently the seventh-deadliest.
Following their collision, both the Boeing and the Cessna crashed into North Park, a residential but urban uptown neighborhood located roughly three miles northeast of downtown San Diego. PSA 182 crashed just north of the intersection of Dwight and Nile Streets, killing all 135 people aboard the aircraft along with seven bystanders on the ground or residents in their homes, including two children. The Cessna struck Polk Avenue, between 32nd and Iowa Streets, killing the two pilots on board. Nine others on the ground were injured and a total of twenty-two residences were destroyed or damaged by the impact and debris.