1964 — May 7, Mass Murder/pilot shot, Pacific Air 773 crash near San Ramon, CA — 44

— 44 AirDisaster.Com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 05071964.
— 44 Aviation Safety Network. Criminal Occurrence Description. Pacific Flight 773, 7May64.
— 44 CAB. AAR. Pacific Air Lines…Near San Ramon, California, May 7, 1964.
— 44 Kimura. World Commercial Aircraft Accidents 3rd Ed., 1946-1993, V.1. 4-11-1994, p. 3-7.
— 44 Notable California Aviation Disasters. “The 1960s.” Oct 23, 2008 update.
— 43 Duwe, Grant. Mass Murder in the United States: A History. McFarland, 2007, p. 28.

Narrative Information

CAB: “A Pacific Air Lines, Inc., Fairchild F-27, N277OR, operating as Flight 773, crashed near San Ramon, California, at approximately 0649, May 7, 1964, while en route from Reno, Nevada, to San Francisco, California. None of the 44 occupants aboard, including the three crew members and 41 passengers, survived the crash. The aircraft was destroyed by impact.

“The flight proceeded in a routine manner until approximately 26 nautical miles from its destination, the San Francisco International Airport. At that point, a message was received by Oakland Approach Control and the radar target associated with Flight 773 disappeared from the controller’s radar scope. The recorded message, later determined to have been that of the copilot of N277OR was: “… Skippers shot. We’ve been shot. (I was) Trying to help.”

“A .357 Smith and Wesson Magnum revolver identified as having belonged to one of the passengers on the flight was found in the wreckage area. It contained six empty cartridges, which had been fired from the weapon….

“Witnesses along the path of flight and near the impact area describe a generally westward flight path prior to impact. They describe extreme and abrupt changes in attitude of Flight 773 coupled with erratic powerplant sounds and a large ball of fire following the final impact. Weather conditions at the time were described as overcast sky with good visibility….

“The gun with ammunition and a cleaning kit had been purchased by passenger Francisco Paula Gonzales on the evening of May 6, 1964. Mr. Gonzales had advised both friends and relatives that he would die on either Wednesday, the 6th of May, or Thursday, the 7th of May. He referred to his impending death on a daily basis throughout the week preceding the accident. On the evening of May 6, passenger Gonzales departed San Francisco International Airport aboard a Pacific Air Lines flight for Reno, Nevada, with a return reservation for Flight 773 on the following morning. Shortly before boarding the flight to Reno. Gonzales displayed the gun to numerous friends at the airport and told one person he intended to shoot himself. Various persons saw Mr. Gonzales board the Pacific Air Lines flight at San Francisco International Airport on the evening of May 6 carrying the small package which contained the gun and ammunition. On that same evening he had purchased two insurance policies at the San Francisco Airport in the total amount of $105,000. Another passenger aboard Gonzales’ flight from San Francisco to Reno remembered that Gonzales was carrying a small package and was seated in the front seat behind the pilots’ compartment. While at Reno, Nevada, Mr. Gonzales spent the night visiting various gambling establishments. Mr. Gonzales gambled that night and one casino employee asked how he was doing to which Gonzales replied, “… it would not make any difference after tomorrow”. Several persons recalled that Gonzales had a large bulge in his clothing and others reported that he was carrying a small package while in Reno. A Janitor at a gambling club where passenger Gonzales was known to have spent a part of the evening discovered a cardboard carton for a Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum revolver and a gun cleaning kit in the wastepaper container. Both of these items were identified by the seller as part of passenger Gonzales purchase on the preceding evening.

“Interviews with relatives, associates, and acquaintances revealed that Gonzales was disturbed and depressed over marital and financial difficulties and that he cried continuously during the evening of May 5, 1964. A credit check showed Gonzales to have been deeply in debt and that nearly half of his salary was committed for loan payments….

“The Board determines the probable cause of this accident was the shooting of the captain and first officer by a passenger during flight.

“Corrective Action Prior to the accident 7 the FAA adopted certain amendments to Parts 40, 41, and 42, of the Civil Air Regulations. These amendments, which became effective August 6, 1964, required that the door separating the passenger cabin from the crew compartment on all scheduled air carrier and commercial aircraft must be kept locked during flight. An exception to the rule will be during landing or takeoff on certain aircraft such as the Fairchild F-27 where the door leads to an emergency passenger exit. (CAB. Pacific Air… San Ramon, CA, May 7, 1964.)

Notable California Aviation Disasters:

“Number 7 of California’s “10 Worst Crashes”
”Date / Time: Thursday, May 7, 1964 / 6:49 a.m.
”Operator / Flight No.: Pacific Air Lines / Flight 773
”Location: Near San Ramon, Calif.

“Details and Probable Cause: The aircraft, a Pacific Air Lines twin-engine Fairchild F-27A turboprop (N2770R), departed Reno, Nevada at 5:54 a.m., carrying 33 passengers and a crew of three on an early morning flight to San Francisco International Airport. Commanding officer of the flight was Captain Ernest “Ernie” A. Clark, assisted by First Officer Ray Andress and Flight Attendant Margaret Schafer.

“After a routine flight over the Sierra Nevada, the plane made its scheduled intermediate stop at Stockton, California, where two passengers deplaned and 10 passengers boarded, bringing the plane’s total to 41 passengers in addition to the three crew members.

“Approximately 10 minutes after the aircraft’s 6:38 a.m. departure from Stockton, while the airliner was en route to San Francisco, the Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center received a garbled radio message from Flight 773 and the radar target representing the aircraft disappeared from the center’s scope.

“When attempts to contact the aircraft were unsuccessful, alarmed approach controllers at Oakland contacted another aircraft in the immediate vicinity, United Air Lines Flight 593, and asked the United crew if they had Pacific Flight 773 in sight. The United crew’s response was “negative,” but moments later they further reported: “There’s a black cloud of smoke coming up through the undercast at … three-thirty, four o’clock position right now. Looks like [an] oil or gasoline fire.” The dark column of smoke spotted by United Flight 593 marked the abrupt end of Pacific Air Lines Flight 773.

“While flying at its assigned altitude of 5,000 feet, the Pacific F-27A turboprop had suddenly gone into a steep descent, crashed into a hillside and exploded near the town of San Ramon in Contra Costa County. The aircraft’s ominous last radio message at 6:48 a.m., later determined to be from First Officer Andress, had to be deciphered through laboratory analysis. It was: “Skipper’s shot. We’ve been shot. [I was] tryin’ to help.” A Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver containing six spent cartridges was found in the wreckage and both aviation and FBI investigators determined that San Francisco resident Francisco P. Gonzales, a passenger who previously had told several people he was going to kill himself, had shot both the pilot and co-pilot during the flight.

“Gonzales, 27, a former member of the Philippine yachting team at the 1960 Olympics, had been “disturbed and depressed” over marital and financial difficulties in the weeks leading up to the crash. Gonzales had recently separated from his wife, Patricia, and a credit check by authorities showed that he was deeply in debt, with nearly half of his income as a department store warehouse clerk committed to various loan payments. Gonzales had advised both relatives and friends that he “would die on either Wednesday, the 6th of May, or Thursday, the 7th of May.”

“On the evening of May 6, Gonzales booked passage on a Pacific Air Lines flight from San Francisco to Reno, with a return reservation on the airline’s Flight 773 the following morning.

“While waiting to board the Reno flight at San Francisco, he displayed a gun to several friends at the airport and told one person he “intended to shoot himself.” Gonzales also purchased two life insurance policies totaling $105,000 at the airport, with his wife named as beneficiary, prior to embarking on his flight to Nevada. Upon arrival at Reno, Gonzales spent the night at various gambling establishments, and a janitor at one the clubs visited by Gonzales subsequently discovered a cardboard carton for a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver and a gun cleaning kit in one of the club’s trash containers.

“In addition to the gun, investigators probing the wreckage also discovered a section of metal tubing from the captain’s seat frame that bore an indentation determined to have been caused by a fired bullet. On Fairchild F-27A aircraft, the passenger cabin is separated from the flight deck by a forward cargo compartment, with a single door leading from the passenger cabin to the cargo compartment that serves as the cockpit door as well. Investigators theorized that Gonzales gained access to the cargo compartment via this door and, while standing in the aisle way of the cargo area, fired on both Clark and Andress who were seated at their respective controls in the cockpit.

“Additional forensic evidence uncovered during the probe also suggested that Gonzales then turned the gun on himself after shooting Clark and Andress. As a result, the uncontrolled aircraft began a sudden, erratic descent that ended with its violent 90-degree impact with the hill.
“All 44 passengers and crew of Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 perished in the disaster.

“Fatalities: 44 — 41 passengers and 3 crew members.” (Notable California Aviation Disasters. “The 1960s.” Oct 23, 2008 update.)

Sources

AirDisaster.Com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 05071964. Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=05071964&reg=N2770R&airline=Pacific+Airlines

Aviation Safety Network. Criminal Occurrence Description. Pacific Air Lines Flight 773, May 7, 1964. Accessed 12/23/2008 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19640507-0

Civil Aeronautics Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Pacific Air Lines, Inc., Fairchild F-27. N277OR, Near San Ramon, California, May 7, 1964. Washington, DC: CAB, 11-2-1964. At: http://dotlibrary1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?file&fn=8&name=*P%3A%5CDOT%5Cairplane%20accidents%5Cwebsearch%5C050764.pdf

Duwe, Grant. Mass Murder in the United States: A History. McFarland, 2007.

Kimura, Chris Y. World Commercial Aircraft Accidents 3rd Edition, 1946-1993, Volume 1: Jet and Turboprop Aircrafts. Livermore, CA: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Risk Assessment and Nuclear Engineering Group. 4-11-1994.

Notable California Aviation Disasters. “The 1960s.” Oct 23, 2008 update. Accessed 10/17/2009 at: http://www.jaydeebee1.com/crash60s.html