SEPTEMBER 25, 2008 — It has been 30 years since Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 collided into a private Cessna 172 in the skies above San Diego, killing 135 passengers on the PSA flight, two people aboard the Cessna, and seven people on the ground. Plane wreckage fell into the North Park area of San Diego, and 22 homes were damaged or destroyed. The plane had been in its final approach to Lindbergh Field at about 9 a.m. when it collided with the small Cessna. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the likely cause of the deadly collision was the failure of the PSA flight crew to adhere to proper air traffic control (ATC) procedures. There were no survivors.

The San Diego International Airport is America’s busiest single-runway commercial airport. The September 25, 1978 crash is the deadliest aviation disaster to date in California history.