The young lady was living with her mother who had significant mental health issues of her own. After assuring the young ladys safety and involvement in counseling, I turned my attention to the broader family issues. My sister, who had left the athletic field moments before impact, is definitely a white-knuckler. Craigs nickname was Beetle Bentley. The Pacoima crash was of particular significance to my family for a number of reasons. Im sure she would have loved to see you and the photo. You are providing a valuable piece of history to your childhood community. Thats all there is to it. I now know. Apparently, the plane he flew on 1Jan57 had taken off from Palmdale and my dad was at work that day. I dont recall my parents reaction to the crash. I still cry when I try to tell people what happened that day. I lived on Daventry street and attended Telfair Avenue School. Thanks. An incredible bonding experience that lasted 50 years or more after graduation from high school. My mom and dad were friends with Mr. and Mrs. Elsner from Wisconsin days. And thank you very much for your take on that sad day. Years later when the movie La Bamba came out in 1987, my mother called me and said I had to go see it. An estimated 75 more students on the school playground suffered critical and minor injuries. I WAS THERE AND WILL NEVER FORGET, I WAS IN THE AUDITORIUM. She was our babysitter back then and I was looking for her full name. Perhaps he was on his way to a memorial service at the school. So maybe your dad did distribute copies to all the other Jr. High Schools. The sound was a whisper at first and then it starting getting louder and louder and louder. I knew Evan well. I remember hearing a tape of the crash that the music teacher, Mr Morse, had. When the plane hit, the shock waves rolled me over and over and over. The DC-7B pilot, William Carr, 36, of Pacific Palisades, struggled to control the plane as it went into a dive and final spin. At Every high school reunion we have a pre-party on Friday night and all of the men/boys sit around the table and tell their stories about that day. Its crazy how she just said we have one life to live right before it happened. I had two cousins, Kathy & Patricia Zeise, who were in class at Pacoima Jr High that day. Jeet Heer The Establishment focus on personal scandals helps cover up the former presidents reckless belligerence. I remember you as Rusty, a classmate of my late brother Steven. Thought you might be interested. Regarding dangerous test flights: As I understand it, Pacoima parents spearheaded a successful drive to enact legislation banning future test flights over densely populated areas. He recalled gazing up at his chute on the way down and seeing widening circles of blue sky. We lived only a few blocks from the school and my mother had been out hanging laundry. Kris. It made an impact on me. Well done, Mr. Masek. The plane crash last month wasn't the first for Pacoima residents. That was eerie as hell. Mark Littleton. I was in the 4th grade at Montague that day. It seemed longer in person. I was at school in La Crescenta doing sit ups out in our school field when we all saw smoke and the planes falling right after impact. As you are probably aware, many credit your father for managing to avoid nearby buildings and preventing a much larger calamityyes, thank you Russ, for adding to the story! Because what you heard is the entire recording (digitally dubbed to CD from the original),he must have started recording after the student began to speak. Because of the oxide stripping and other deterioration factors, I transferred the recording to 1/4-inch reel-to-reel, casette and, ultimately, digital. I was told to leave and I started to run home. Both of my younger sisters attended the elementary school next door to Pacoima Junior High. appeared first on The Nation. My name is Nick Waite and I have managed to avoid being too public about the Pacoima plane crash (because it is not a very happy place to go). I graduated 1969. Needless to say, I always ask GOD to please be with me and my family whenever we fly. Hope things are going well for you these days. Richard Berger was badly burned, but on our graduation day played piano beautifully, telling me his learning to play was therapeutic. (But that may be memory modification over the years). By then, I was really hanging on to the fence. When they finally let us out of school with instruction to go home, we all went over to the Jr. high school to look. I dont know if the kids there ever heal completely. Ive been having that kind of trouble lately someone even tried to post my audio at another site and it only reduces readership at these pages. Many of my childhood friends had similar stories as I read with Mark G. and Garth R. Many years later upon growing up I joined the LAFD/Paramedic Rescue. Over by a demolished backstop, a burned and mangled crewmember was still strapped to a chair, his death stare looking out at the carnage that was all around. Coincidentally enough, my sister told me on the phone yesterday that she attended the San Fer reunion with her chum, Carol Crockett (maiden name). I dont know if that contributed to my career decisionbut I suspect that tragic event and being too young to help may have somehow led me to the LAFD. I felt connected to the terrible history. We lived near by on Gain Street and I went to Kindergarten at Beachy Avenue School. As I travel back to that place my heart goes out, once again, to all those kids, teachers, parents, flight crews, and first responders whose lives were forever changed that day. God bless, Russ, Hell, even in the mid-60s I remember drilling at Beachy Elementary (near PJHS) sometimes we would even drop-and-cover along with the air-raid sirens the last Friday of every month (I guess the teachers thought the sirens brought a little realism production value to the whole thing). I am 70 years old now and just listened to the recording again for the first time since the crash. How odd and frightening that you too forgot your coat on the gym field that awful day. Unfortunately, I havent a clue what the answer is. This crash and another (DC7 and Connie midair over the Grand Canyon July 1956) put the fear of flying into me. I believe Evan was in one of dads classes. I do still live in the Valley, but far from good old Beachy. Days later we were allowed back into class because a large piece of metal flew through and embedded in to the wall. I thought it was actually a high school and it was a football field, but that was the perspective of a 5 year old. Pacoima Jr High School Airplane Crash of 1957 - YouTube 0:00 / 2:15 Pacoima Jr High School Airplane Crash of 1957 Psycho Circus 325 subscribers Subscribe 92 Share 6.1K views 2 years. I dont know if he did that in order to see better or to be able breathe. My sister and I lost touch with Cindy, his sister, in the late sixties. If my dad thought he was in trouble for being AWOL at work, my mother was about to finish his day. I took my turn. Sometimes people there go from one video to another suggestion, and that will help reach out to many people who were not even searching it up in the first place. is using a digitally restored copy of my crash audio for a large training exercise this year. did someone set them off or? Richard noted he was in the Valley Hospital and, as I recall, I was too. Things were a mess on the other side of the fence from us. I was injured and was told I was awake and running before I was hit but cant remember anything. Today is the 57th anniversary of the plane crash; I think about it every January 31st. The image of a hunk of metal slicing through an elementary school classroom is terrifying. For weeks after the crash there were people on the field, on hands and knees, picking up pieces of the wreckage. He and this whole tragedy made a huge impact on me, too. Susy M Kay says: I think the rest of the classroom was reading. 55 years later and we who were there are drawn back to the memory. I was 6 years old at that time and I still have my class photos of May 1956 and 1957 if anyone is interested. Your account is the first Id heard about Berger and his music therapy pulling him through ah, the power of music. But, there was also a lot of humanity and caring for others on that day, as well. It was a miracle that the plane didnt crash into the elementary school as well as the gym field. Thank you for your recollection. Certainly less frightening, but just as capable of creating lasting, disturbing impressions the sight of two aircraft plummeting to their doom and the human cost implied, would be enough to sear into anyones brain. Again, Bill, thanks so much for your input. When did your dad retire. I just found this site. Ill tell her you said hello. Dad was teaching English at Pacoima and was also coaching kids on their graduation speeches. Such a horrible thing to happen. Then and Now column in Sunday's California section about a collision between a fighter jet and a transport plane over Pacoima in 1957 incorrectly stated that the accident generated more. We were on the playground and looked up. I was at Montegue Elementary School right across from our house. I read that many people wrote that the school has done nothin to remember the accident, and i want to really tell you Russ Buchanan what a great thing you are doing. I guess the fact that they were kids when it happened made it stick in ways that will probably never be fully understood. I remember, Rustys dad ran for political office. My husband was there that day and suffered burns and shrapnal (sp?) My mom never really said much about the kids that were killed and injured so sad, but they arent alone, as I think about it often myself and wonder what my life would be like today had I had my father. On January 31, 1957, a DC-7B transport plane collided in mid-air with a Northrop F-89J Scorpion jet trainer plane and the debris fell to earth on the Pacoima Junior High School playground where about 220 boys were just ending their day's athletic activities. As fate was with us, it probably would have decapitated several of us. Do you remember a little girl who lived across the street named Nancy? Thanks for sharing, Russ. Even though the comments here concern a tragic day in the old neighborhood, reading them reminds me of my old stomping grounds and what a terrific place it was to spend my first 17 years. Cant wait to visit from Michigan in a few weeks and I cant wait to show my kids my real home. Jan. 31, 1957 was a tragic day in the northern San Fernando Valley. But please do not copy and paste any of the text to another site . We used to visit him at the hospital while he was recovering and suffering through painful skin grafts. We were still in the classroom and the teacher must have been scared to death. Soon after the crash, my dad was transferred to the California Air National Guard Base (196th Tactical Air Support Group) in Ontario. Hi Jill Pam often checks in to read the latest comments here. I went to this school on 1967 and always remember hearing some of the teachers saying they were there on that day. No hiding under the desk for you; you wanted to know what was going on. Please contact me here if you have any information on Cindy. We entered the playground through the faculty parking lot and beheld a twisted, scorched and oil-soaked landscape. Youll wind up getting the grade you were going to get anyway plus an ulcer (and bad airplane dreams). The post Haiti, April 2023: Soon There Will Be No One Left to Kidnap appeared first on The Nation. John Vardanian was a PE teacher and track coach at Poly High at least through 1967 when I graduated. I was only 7 at the time, and I went to Terra Bella Elementary, next door. Two Air Force F-89 jet fighters departed Palmdale at 10:50 a.m. to test their radar. I didnt look up, but I remember the horrible loud sound, like nothing natural, and then the crash and the earth shook. After reading the information I guess I was amazed at the life experiences especially involving the military that he had already accumulated when I knew him. He was lucky and only got a minor elbow injury. June 15, 2015 at 7:15 am. Talk about different times. It was a closed room with only transom windows. Needless to say, it was a rough few hours for my mom, who had learned of the crash but had to wait an excruciating two hours before dad called to tell her he and her daughter were OK. Ah, the Internet! I hope you are composing these days. They were probably looking for info that was already in the rumor mill. I can only imagine the horrors and the sadness you witnessed that day. A fine man whose life seemed way too short. Both escaped injury. I remember your father as an extremely nice man. I was ten years old and just made it out to the playing field of Burton Street School, to hear a loud explosion in the sky. Niccol Barca, Tommaso Grossi Many have dubbed the new Democratic Party leader the Italian AOC. Heres why she has her work cut out for her. I guess we Pacoimans are just a musical bunch. My mother received telegram condolences from all over the world -my father was in the Air Transport Command during WWII, then went to work for Seaboard & Western training pilots in various countries to fly the Douglas aircraft, then went to work for Douglas as a test pilot. Ah, the good old days. locker rooms, I started searching for our dad. One more way the Buchanan family was connected to that grisly day. those hospitalized in the air collision and crash of two airplanes in Pacoima: At San Fernando Hospital: Robert Curry, 12, 13722 Pierce St., Pacoima, broken left ankle and foot. I remember a lot of parents running towards the school and I saw my parents who to say the least were ecstatic to see me alive. wow that sent chills. It includes important response assets such as Hospital Emergency Response Teams (HERT), Emergency Medical Cashes, hospital communication methods (to help avoid moving the disaster from the scene to nearby hospitals that are already overwhelmed). 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