TIL that the largest mass killing event in California wasn't the 2018 Thousand Oaks shooting or even the '84 San Ysidro "McDonald's massace"
...but the purposeful crashing of PSA Flight 1771 in 1987 by a disgruntled Black ex-employee killing all 43 people onboard
David Burke, a cleaner, had been fired earlier that day by LAX station manager Ray Thomson as they had finally caught him on tape doing something illegal - stealing onboard petty cash used for making change during the drink service
$69 in '87 dollars, nearly $200 now
I say "finally" because he had previously been under internal investigation from parent airline of PSA (US Air) back in Rochester, NY as the Jamaican national was suspected to be part of a drug smuggling operation from the island, using his privileged onboard credentials
So how did Burke do it?
While the 2011 Canadian docu-series Mayday: Air Disasters credits "meticulous planning" on the part of the ex-cleaner, it was common knowledge among employees that LAX station manager Thomson actually lived in San Francisco and commuted via that flight
Fired by Thomson, and still in a heat back at his locker getting his things, Burke took his .44 Magnum and bought a ticket on Flight 1771
Crucially, his credentials were never taken by Thomson at this meeting, a practice that became standard because of this incident
A lot of this came into focus once the gun was found at the crash site - a miracle since its crater was the size of a 2x4
No, really
PSA 1771 had entered a 70° nosedive and briefly broke the sound barrier before crashing, so anything heavier than paper was pulverized on impact
However, anything lightweight was spread over a distance of miles, saved by incineration by the high-speed impact but also lost due to it
Miraculously, not only was the .44 Magnum found (in just two pieces) but the half with the trigger guard still had the shooter's finger in it
While the FBI was able to get Burke's fingerprint off the finger remnant (and motive would have been discovered that way regardless) another piece of evidence was found that survived more intact than Burke's hand: his threatening note on an air sick bag
His "family" for those playing at home were his 7 children from 4 baby mamas
Nearly everyone he interacted with - from former girlfriends and neighbors to law enforcement officials - described him as violent
Also, this plane cleaner was totally not involved with drugs
Nope
Near San Luis Obispo, low impulse Burke shoots Thomson twice in his seat, the flight attendant, both pilots and an additional passenger
It's thought to be Chief PSA Pilot John Conte who happened to be onboard and may have tried to go to the cockpit to take it out of a nosedive
You can watch the whole episode yourself: youtu.be/o0LFCcSF80s
Read the wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_S…
And check out the '87 NY Times from the Internet Archive about Burke's background: web.archive.org/web/2015040221…
If you like learning about air disasters with a hard R, check out my other posts in this, sadly, continuing series:
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