1987 — Dec 7, Pilots Shot/Plane Crash, Pacific Southwest #1771, near Cayucos, CA — 43

— 44  Airdisaster.com. “Special Report: Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771.”[1]

— 43  Aviation Safety Network. Criminal Occurrence description. “Pacific Southwest Airlines.”

— 43  Duwe, Grant.  Mass Murder in the United States: A History. McFarland, 2007, p. 28.

— 43  NationMaster.com, Encyclopedia, List of Notable Accidents on Commercial Aircraft

— 43  Notable California Aviation Disasters.  “The 1980s.” Oct 23, 2008 update.

— 43  NTSB. NTSB Identification DCA88MA008. Pacific Southwest Airlines…Dec 7, 1987.[2]

 

Narrative Information

 

Airdisaster.com: “A Call comes in to the San Luis Obispo County, California Sheriff’s Office citing a small plane crash in the mountains of southern California. Detective Bill Wammock is the first to arrive on the scene. He recalls “nothing that resembled an airliner… we went on for hours, before we heard the news reports of a missing airliner, believing that we were dealing with a small airplane full of newspapers that had crashed. We saw no pieces of the aircraft that were larger than, maybe, a human hand. It did not look like a passenger aircraft.”

“Two days later, an FBI Agent working the scene found what appeared to be the barrel and trigger of a handgun. Forensic Analysts examined the pieces, and found a small piece of skin wedged between the trigger and the barrel. By matching the skin prints to the passenger manifest, investigators were able to conclude that the gun had been in the hand of USAir employee David Burke at the time of impact.

“December 7, 1987, was not a typical day for USAir employee David Burke. Two weeks prior, Burke had been placed on unpaid leave, awaiting the outcome of an investigation into whether he had stolen $68.00 from a drink fund set up by Flight Attendants. The date of Burke’s appearance before the Board of Appeals at USAir was today.

“In the hearing, Burke admitted to the act and pleaded for leniency, citing his family’s well-being. Despite telling the members of the committee that he was “regrettably sorry,” and that his “children would have no one to support them,” Burke’s pleas for his job went unheard, and he was summarily dismissed by his supervisor, Raymond Thompson. As Burke left his office after the hearing, Thompson’s secretary wished him to “have a nice day.” Burke paused, turned around, and replied “I intend on having a very good day.”

“David Burke then purchased a ticket on Pacific Southwest Airlines flight 1771, a daily non-stop along PSA’s “Pacific Highway” between Los Angeles and San Francisco. This flight was also taken by Burke’s supervisor, Raymond Thompson, every day on his commute home from the USAir Headquarters at LAX.

“Using his USAir employee credentials, which had not been seized and were later found at the crash site, David Burke bypassed security at Los Angeles International Airport and stepped aboard the BAe-146 aircraft, armed with a loaded 44-magnum pistol. Upon entering the aircraft, Burke scrawled a note onto an air-sickness bag which read:

“It’s kind of ironical, isn’t it? I asked for leniency for my family, remember? Well, I got none, and now you’ll get none.”

 

“As the aircraft reached its cruising altitude of 29,000 feet, Burke calmly vacated his chair and made his way to the lavatory, dropping the air-sickness bag in his supervisor’s lap as he passed. Moments later, he emerged with the handgun, and immediately shot Thompson. The sound of the gunshot is picked up on the cockpit voice recorder, and seconds later the sound of the cockpit door opening is heard. A female, presumed to be a Flight Attendant, advises the cockpit crew that “we have a problem.” The Captain replies with “what kind of problem?” Burke then appears at the cockpit door and announces “I’m the problem,” simultaneously firing two more shots that fatally injure both pilots.

”Several seconds later, the CVR picks up increasing windscreen noise as the airplane pitches down and begins to accelerate. A final gunshot is heard as Burke fatally shoots himself. Airspeed continues to build until 13,000 feet, when traveling at a velocity of 1.2x Mach, the aircraft breaks apart and the Flight Recorders cease functioning.

”All 44 passengers and crew aboard PSA Flight 1771 died as the aircraft crashed into a Farmer’s field in the Santa Ana Hills. The accident spelled the end of Pacific Southwest Airlines, which in April of the following year was absorbed into USAir. A federal law was passed which required “immediate seizure of all airline employee credentials” upon termination from an airline position. Most importantly, however, the Federal Aviation Administration adapted policy to require that all members of any airline flight crew, including the Captain, be subjected to the same security measures as are the passengers.” (Airdisaster.Com. “Special Report: Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771.”)

 

Nationmaster.com: “December 7 – Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771, a BAe 146, is hijacked and deliberately crashed near Cayucos, California by a disgruntled airline employee. All 43 people on board, including the hijacker, are killed.” (NationMaster.com. Encyclopedia, “List of Notable Accidents…on Commercial Aircraft.”)

 

NTSB: “A RECENTLY DISCHARGED USAIR EMPLOYEE BOARDED PSA FLT 1771 AFTER HAVING LEFT A GOODBYE MESSAGE WITH FRIENDS. HE BYPASSED SECURITY AND CARRIED ABD A BORROWED 44 CALIBER PISTOL. A NOTE WRITTEN BY THIS PSGR, FOUND IN THE WRECKAGE, THREATENED HIS FORMER SUPERVISOR AT USAIR, WHO WAS ABOARD THE FLT. AT 1613, THE PLT RPTD TO OAKLAND ARTCC THAT HE HAD AN EMERGENCY AND THAT GUNSHOTS HAD BEEN FIRED IN THE AIRPLANE. WITHIN 25 SECONDS, OAKLAND CTR CONTROLLERS OBSERVED THAT PSA 1771 HAD BEGUN A RAPID DESCENT FM WHICH IT DID NOT RECOVER. WITNESSES ON THE GND SAID THE AIRPLANE WAS INTACT AND THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF FIRE BEFORE THE AIRPLANE STRUCK THE GND IN A STEEP NOSE-DOWN ATTITUDE. THE CVR TAPE REVEALED THE SOUNDS OF A SCUFFLE AND SEVERAL SHOTS WHICH WERE APPARENTLY FIRED IN OR NEAR THE COCKPIT. THE PISTOL WAS FOUND IN THE WRECKAGE WITH 6 EXPENDED ROUNDS. FAA RULES PERMITTED AIRLINE EMPLOYEES TO BYPASS SECURITY CHECKPOINTS.” (NTSB. NTSB Identification DCA88MA008…Pacific Southwest Airlines…Dec 7, 1987.)

 

Notable California Aviation Disasters: “Number 8 of California’s “10 Worst Crashes”

“Date / Time: Monday, December 7, 1987 / 4:16 p.m.

“Operator / Flight No.: Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) / Flight 1771

“Location: Near Paso Robles, Calif.

 

“Details and Probable Cause:   David A. Burke, 35, was a 14-year employee of USAir, a company which, six months previously, had purchased Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and was now in the process of absorbing it under the USAir name.

 

“Burke recently had been suspended by the company for petty theft after he allegedly stole $69 from in-flight cocktail receipts.   After an unsuccessful meeting with his supervisor to get his job back, Burke armed himself with a borrowed .44 Magnum revolver and used his unsurrendered USAir identification badge to bypass the metal detection system at Los Angeles International Airport.   He also had purchased a ticket on the same PSA flight that his supervisor, Raymond F. Thomson, was taking to San Francisco.

 

“Once the British Aerospace BAe-146-200A four-engine jetliner (N350PS), named “The Smile of Stockton,” was airborne, Burke wrote a message on an air-sickness bag: “Hi Ray.   I think it’s sort of ironical that we ended up like this.   I asked for some leniency for my family.   Remember?   Well, I got none and you’ll get none.”

 

“While the aircraft was cruising at 22,000 feet over the central California coast, the cockpit crew heard two shots in the passenger cabin and radioed a frantic message to Oakland air traffic controllers: “There’s gunfire aboard!”   Moments later, the plane entered a high-speed nosedive and smashed onto a cattle ranch approximately 15 miles southwest of Paso Robles and near the small coastal town of Cayucos.

 

“FBI agents and aviation investigators sifting through the wreckage came across a gun, containing six spent cartridges, as well as the ominous handwritten note on the air-sickness bag, both of which were eventually traced back to Burke.

 

“Additional information soon came to light: A fellow USAir co-worker admitted to having lent the gun and ammunition to Burke, and a farewell message had been left by Burke on his estranged girlfriend’s telephone answering machine.

 

“Investigators at the crash site were also able to retrieve the plane’s cockpit voice recorder, which subsequently revealed, following the initial two gunshots, the sounds of a “tremendous” commotion and struggle in the cockpit, three more shots, the groan of the pilot or co-pilot, and then, after several moments had passed, a final shot.

 

“Investigators theorized that after shooting Thomson, Burke made his way to the front of the plane and shot both pilots on the flight deck, and then himself.   The pilotless aircraft went into a steep, 700-mph dive and crashed.

 

‘No one aboard the plane survived Burke’s murderous rampage.   Among the passengers killed were Chevron USA President James R. Sylla, 53, of San Francisco, three additional Chevron executives, and Dr. Neil Webb, the president of Dominican College of San Rafael (now known as Dominican University of California).

 

“As a result of the crash, a federal law was passed that required the “immediate seizure of all airline employee credentials” upon an individual’s termination from an airline position.   The PSA Flight 1771 disaster also led to legislation requiring that all airline employees and flight crews pass through the same security checkpoints and metal detection systems that passengers do.

 

“The worst aviation disaster in San Luis Obispo County history.

 

“Fatalities: 43 — all 38 passengers and 5 crew members.” (Notable California Aviation Disasters.  “The 1980s.” Oct 23, 2008 update.)

 

Sources

 

Airdisaster.com. “Special Report: Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771.” When double-checked 10-22-2016, was no longer active. Accessed at:  http://www.airdisaster.com/special/special-pa1771.shtml

 

Aviation Safety Network. Criminal Occurrence description. “Pacific Southwest Airlines…Flight number 1771…Monday 7 December 1987…British Aerospace BAe-146-200…” Accessed 10-22-2016 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19871207-0

 

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

 

National Transportation Safety Board. NTSB Identification DCA88MA008. Washington, DC:  NTSB, 1-4-1989 (Probable Cause approval date).  Accessed 10-22-2016 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/about/employment/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001213X32679

 

NationMaster.com. Encyclopedia. “List of Notable Accidents and Incidents on Commercial Aircraft.” Accessed 12-15-2008 at: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/List-of-notable-accidents-and-incidents-on-commercial-aircraft   Inactive when double-checked 10-22-2016.

 

Notable California Aviation Disasters.  “The 1980s.” 10-23-2008 update. Accessed 10/20/2009 at: http://www.jaydeebee1.com/crash80s.html  Inactive when checked 10-22-2016.

 

 

 

 

 

[1] All other sources we cite note 43 fatalities.

[2] Notes location as San Luis Obispo, CA. Cayucos is in San Luis Obispo Co. and about nineteen miles from SLO.