9.24.20 – Forty-Two Years Later: We Remember PSA Flight 182

Friday, September 25, 2020

Forty-Two Years Later: We Remember PSA Flight 182

On September 25, 1978, four Flight Attendants and three Pilots worked Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 from Los Angeles to San Diego, with 128 passengers on board. As the PSA Boeing 727 jetliner approached San Diego International Airport, PSA Flight 182 collided mid-air with a private Cessna airplane. All 135 passengers and crew perished in the crash.

Thirty PSA employees were also deadheading/commuting to PSA’s San Diego base on Flight 182. The flight served as a shuttle service for many PSA employees because of the recent expansion of the airline throughout California. Due to mandated FAA limitations on working hours, some crew members were restricted from operating the aircraft on return flights to San Diego. Other PSA employees were Los Angeles area residents commuting to work or planning to attend yearly training at PSA Headquarters.

In total, 144 individuals lost their lives in the accident, including the two Cessna pilots and seven residents on the ground. Today, we remember and honor the San Diego-based flight crew. They may be gone but will never be forgotten.

Flight Attendants
Karen Lee Borzewski
Kate Fons
Debbie McCarthy
Dee Young

Flight Deck Crew
Captain James McFeron
First Officer Robert Fox
Flight Engineer Marty Wahne

Original plaque placed on PSA Headquarters in 1978.
Currently located in the San Diego Air and Space Museum.