I can still hear the plane screaming--that is a sound that Ill never forget, said Sue Nelson, who moved to Michigan five years after the crash. With no survivors from the initial air collision, much more death and destruction followed as metal, fire, and bodies rained onto Cerritos homes, trees and the unoccupied grounds of. Slowly, they realized she had seen a newscast about an airliner that had crashed on a Mexico City freeway that week, killing 54 people. On August 31, 1986, an Aeromexico DC-9 was clipped by a small plane over Cerritos. On August 31, 1986, an Aeromexico DC-9 was clipped by a small plane over Cerritos. Of the 51 incidents, eight involved critical situations in which a. collision was avoided by chance. After several minutes, she just let out a wail that I could not describe. Back to our (considerably) less horrific columns, reader John Billings called us out on our claim that we once did such a weak job of haggling over the price of a new car that the sales manager went ahead and lopped $2,000 off the agreed-upon price. They have to integrate it into their life.. I had 16 years with one of the best mothers anybody could ever have had--granted I wanted 80 more years with her, he says, his dark eyes moist. I think a lot of residents were worried that something would be put up at the site. It happened. It was right at the end of the 11 oclock service, and the usher came forward with a note that a woman had called and said a house was on fire and to please come, Koepke said. He stayed with her for more than an hour, talking to her and praying with her. People are saying things to themselves like: It shouldnt have happened to us. At the GTE building, an impromptu disaster headquarters, he saw his father, Dennis, who had left the house that morning at the last minute for a quick visit with Jeffreys aunt in Pomona. For years after the crash, Cerritos was known almost exclusively for the disaster. The coroners office says everyone on the Aeromexico jet did die on impact, but Guzman cant help wondering whether they had to experience the fire, too. For the rest of my life, he says, Ill be wishing my children had their grandmother to go to--thats the legacy of this tragedy.. If anyone had any plans for the day, they werent ambitious. The air traffic controller who tracked an Aeromexico jetliner before it collided with a private plane over Cerritos and crashed testified Tuesday that . In that brief flash of time, the 58 passengers of the Aeromexico jet, its six-person crew and 15 people on the ground were killed. Nor can she get over how, perhaps 50 feet closer to the impact point, the family of Frank and Theresa Estrada was not spared. Workers sweep up debris Tuesday morning, September 2, 1986 from Aeromexico jetliner which crashed in a residential neighborhood after colliding with a small plane. Times Staff Writer. We spent our whole lives getting here and now an airplane drops from the skies and no place is safe. . How do you not feel that day in, day out?. Problem with this listing? No one has gone without food, shelter or many offers of counseling--a $180,000 disaster fund sponsored by the City of Cerritos and a well-coordinated psychological care program run by county mental health officials have seen to that. Then-Planning Commissioner George Ray, who today is the mayor of Cerritos, was doing some work at home on his dining room table. You couldnt have taken a saw and cut a neater hole. Ive come to the conclusion there was a God up there, but he wasnt picking or choosing, she said, sounding at peace with her answer. Today we talk about what has become known as "The Day the Music Died"On February 3, 1959, rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big B. Its not just that McIllwain misses his mother during the milestone events, like graduation. She had seen the little plane coming down, and she thought it was going to hit her when she was standing in the backyard. Alejandra Molina writes about immigration, race, and religion for the Southern California News Group. Its maybe just once a year. Thats what people thought of when they thought of Cerritos, said Diana Needham, a City Council member at the time. On Wednesday, the community will remember the victims and their families in a ceremony at the memorial in the Cerritos Sculpture Garden. Thats where it happened. 1986 Cerritos mid-air collision. The memorial will be a respectful gathering held in memory of the victims of the Aug. 31, 1986 mid-air collision. It was an issue of dealing with the community, the pain and sorrow of those who survived, the neighborhood, the whole city.. A black path runs through the Cerritos, Calif., neighborhood in this August 31, 1986 file photo, after a midair collision between an AeroMexico DC-9 and a small twin-engine plane. When Sue Nelson thinks about this she feels guilty, because it makes her remember that she was not a particularly good next-door neighbor. . Dr. Patrick OConnor, head of the countys Rio Hondo Mental Health Center in Cerritos, and the man who led an effort to offer counseling to all of the citys residents immediately after the crash, said such reactions are part of the post-traumatic stress syndrome that affects many combat veterans. They had left Torrance Airport and headed for Big Bear, while an Aeromexico DC-9 flying from Tijuana was bound for Los Angeles International. I didnt see it hit the ground, but when it did there was a huge fireball.. The concept of providing mental health to victims and first responders is now applied nationally. They pushed through a lath fence into Ivan Medinas backyard. I start thinking about that and I start scaring myself, Neally said. We had so much food we didnt know what to do with it, Grossman said. Three little tennis shoes, size 2 or 3, Anderson said. The body of a victim in a plane crash between an Aero Mexico jetliner and a small plane is taken from neighborhood in Cerritos, Calif., Monday morning, September 1, 1986. . She did not know where to go. David Lindley, guitarist best known for work with Jackson Browne, dies at 78, K-Pop isnt the only hot ticket in Koreatown how trot is captivating immigrants, Los Angeles is suddenly awash in waterfalls, Officials unprepared for epic mountain blizzard, leaving many trapped and desperate, The Week in Photos: California exits pandemic emergency amid a winter landscape, Snowboarder dies at South Lake Tahoe resort. Through sheer chance, the plane landed most directly on homes that were rented by people who had not been in the neighborhood long--the Estrada family, the families of Rickard and Cronkhite and the extended American Indian family of Howard Yackytooahnipah, which lost six members. And every tragedy, such as the recent Olympics bombing and the explosion of a TWA jet over New York, brings a painful jolt of empathy with the victims. The 53-year-old Rancho Palos Verdes man was piloting his Piper Archer, accompanied by his wife, Kathleen, and their 27-year-old daughter, Caroline. For goodness sake, he thought with the embarrassment of a 16-year-old, Im only going to church. William Kramer was flying that day. Eighty-two people died 67 aboard the two aircraft and 15 on the ground. Suppose Id seen this stupid plane come down--what would I do? He snapped a picture of the jetliner as it was diving earthward. I know now that any anxiety I feel in the next two weeks, well, there will be feeling there, because I feel sorry for a whole lot of people--not only the victims who died, but a lot of very, very nice people who suffered greatly and probably still are suffering today. On a recent Tuesday evening, just back in his newly built home, Doug Fuller looked out of his living room and saw another eternal nuisance, the gawkers, the strangers who still drive up and down the block, still curious, still gesturing from their cars. It was more than twice the size of any other grant made from the fund. . The nightmare that once regularly haunted Wes Neally--flying aboard a plane that crashes--now strikes only a couple of times a year. And a reader from Lakewood who really, really, really likes to smoke weed and who was proud way beyond reason to have attended Lakewood High School, responded to a column we wrote about high school in the olden days, which to him were in 1972, when you could buy an ounce of Mexican marijuana for $10, and a little better grade of Mexican for $15, or, you could get the best, Acapulco Gold and Panama Red for $30 an ounce., Mr. Lakewood goes on to say that the 1972 good stuff was WAY better than anything grown today.. Denise Guzman got a phone call about it at her home in Whittier, where her family was having a barbecue, the same kind of barbecue that had been planned--and then abruptly canceled--the day Aeromexico Flight 498 went down, with Guzmans father-in-law and four other in-laws on board, returning from a Mexican fishing trip. I have to pinch myself to get out of it. Linda McIllwain was the wife of the man Knabe refers to repeatedly as my buddy. She baby-sat for the Knabe children. You cant explain whatll set you off. We will include here a bit of what she recalled from those initial moments of terror: My son Robbie (7 at the time) was standing in the garage and watched as the DC-9 plowed into the ground merely yards away. Why me? There were body parts, a very, very horrific scene. In Cerritos, the emotional wounds from the crash took time to heal. There was virtually nothing left of the family home. Parking. All but one of the flight's 157 passengers were killed. . No one wanted that. Aug. 31, 1986: The smoldering ruins of homes mark the area of Cerritos where an Aeromexico jetliner fell to earth. When the plane crashed, Estrada was out shopping to make a special lunch for her husband, whod been working grueling hours as a Southern California Edison repairman. When Koepke turned the corner and saw the large plume of smoke, he knew this was no small plane. Many survivors still wobble. The scariness never goes away.. He lights a cigarette--a habit hes fallen back into after 17 years of abstaining--and compulsively checks the house for escape routes. Two people were seen inside the plane, decapitated and still strapped into their seats. There were a lot of people walking around with body bags looking for parts of people.. Privately, he was crushed. He also remembered the sound of ambulances. Ray, an executive for a Santa Fe Springs-based manufacturing firm that makes parts for airplanes and the space program, heard what he thought was a sonic boom. The survivors have curiosities that they hesitate to share for fear of sounding ghoulish. But a year later the questions with no answers continue to gnaw. The crash of Aeromexico Flight 498 killed 82 people: 64 jetliner passengers, 15 people on the ground and three in the small plane that collided with the jet as it approached Los Angeles International Airport. Often, when shes sitting on her patio or in her driveway, Gail Grossman will watch airplanes trace the skies over her house on Ashworth Place. Jeffrey began to realize he had to make a choice. Knabe has been torn by the burden of having to play incompatible roles. Jeffrey and a friend hopped in their cars and drove toward home. The DC-9, whose tail was clipped by the small plane, propelled itself like a missile into the Earth. No one knew. Its the little stuff, too. My oldest daughter was 16 or 17 when the crash happened. The city went door-to-door, setting up counseling. Did they see the Piper? On March 21, 2022, the Boeing 737-800 B-1791 of China Eastern Airlines Yunnan Co., Ltd. was carrying out the MU5735 Kunming-Guangzhou flight. But the potential for that accident to happen exists every day, and you dont want to think about it., Nonetheless, Grundmann said, when hes working on a Sunday, and he happens to look out over the traffic control sector in which Aeromexico was flying that day, I still think about it.. You go, Oh well, its been a year later and everythings back to normal. Well, its not. . Come back by 12:15 p.m., Linda McIllwain told him. The remembrance will include a brief formal ceremony with the Cerritos City Council; a reading of the victims' names; a prayer for the victims and their loved ones; and a moment of silence. A resident has added "Lookie Lou's Go Home" message to a "Local Traffic Only" sign Wednesday, September 3, 1986 in Cerritos, Calif., near the area where an Aeromexico Jetliner plunged to the ground after colliding with a small plane. A few minutes later, from his garage, Neally noticed the kids and one of the mothers, relaxing with a soft drink. A few minutes after that, the plane fell. All 67 people on the planes and 15 people on the ground died. People would see me and turn the other way, like they felt I was bad luck, or diseased, Estrada said. In response, the Federal Aviation Administration has tightened airspace restrictions around LAX and other major airports. Getting through the day, seeing my sons happy, that is important. Both planes crashed to the ground, killing everyone aboard. An investigator with the National Transportation safety Board uses a magnifying glass Tuesday morning, September 2, 1986 to inspect piece of small plane which collided with Aeromexico jetliner. This post was contributed by a community member. The house was leveled; all that remained was a blackened, smoldering lot. He is the author of four books, most recently a memoir/collection I'm Dyin' Here. Location 1985-86 1986-87 Los Angeles 8 9 Santa Monica 7 5 Palmdale 5 3 Burbank 4 8 Long Beach 3 10 Van Nuys 3 9 Seal Beach 1 4, Reporting Plane/Other 85-6 86-7 Airliner/Private Plane 17 23 Private Plane/Private 15 12 Private Plane/Military 4 0 Airliner/Airliner 4 0 Private Plane/Airliner 2 0 Air Taxi/Private Plane 0 5. Using a table, they climbed over their backyard brick wall, hopscotching flames, joining other neighbors in a frantic escape. I guess these are the little human stories that no one really cares about except those of us who lived them.. Nevertheless, Kramers plane collided with the jetliner just before noon, clipping off its horizontal tail stabilizer, turning the DC-9 into a rudderless missile. At 11:52 a.m. on Aug. 31, 1986, while McIllwain was still at Sunday school, an Aeromexico DC-9 on approach to Los Angeles International Airport from Mexico collided with a small plane and slammed into the boys neighborhood. Koepke, who with Knabe will take part in the ceremony, said that while remembering the day remains difficult for some, its a day that must be acknowledged. The ceremony will be held at the Cerritos Air Disaster Memorial in the Cerritos Sculpture Garden which is located in the Civic Center. Wes Neally had been standing in his swim trunks next to the garage refrigerator when the plane crashed. Fullerton, California. When cruising in the Guangzhou control area, the cruising altitude of the self-route dropped rapidly from 8900 meters, and finally crashed in Guangxi Near Mocong Village, Conan Town, Teng County, Wuzhou City, Zhuang Autonomous Region. Want to post on Patch? One of the early arrivals at the scene of the wreckage was the Rev. It slammed into a residential neighborhood at Holmes Avenue and Reva Circle in Cerritos, crashing into the backyard of a house at 13426 Ashworth Place, where it exploded on impact. We didnt know until we ran out the house and saw what happened.. That sound and the smell of jet fuel burning, and how everything got black and dark.. Los Angeles, ICE detainees allege retaliation for speaking about medical conditions at Otay Mesa center, Downtown L.A stabbing sends six to hospital; suspect arrested, San Diego Roman Catholic diocese facing yet another lawsuit from its insurance company, K-Pop isnt the only hot ticket in Koreatown how trot is captivating immigrants, Los Angeles is suddenly awash in waterfalls. We tried to make the place, although there were no homes left in certain places, at least get the I dont know how else to say it but get the smell of death and the thought of death off the ground and move forward, Knabe said. Sometimes when I have a customer in front of me I start thinking a little weak--thinking like the customer, not like a finance manager.. Perhaps she had miraculously escaped. Dec. 14, 1988 12 AM PT. Almost a year after the Cerritos crash, a Northwest Airlines plane plunged to the ground as it took off from the Detroit airport. His mother, Linda, 14 others in their houses, and 67 people aboard the two planes were killed that sunny Sunday. I remember thinking, Whos flying on a Sunday?. Its not merely the loss of kin or friends. Its a fitting place for the memorial. A Times headline the next morning described it as a sledgehammer from the sky.. We saw people in their closets that couldnt understand why they were saved and their neighbors houses blew up with the airplane, Knabe said. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Cerritos plane crash 30 years ago: You either died or you didnt, Biden expected to tighten rules on US investment in China, More Iranian schoolgirls sickened in suspected poisoning wave.