Re: Night at LAUPT March 1971
Author: johoff
Date: 12-11-2008 - 17:00
I know this is a railroad site, but just to continue briefly on the subject. . . . As I recall, PSA purchased only one L-1011 in an abortive attempt to expand service outside of California. The aircraft later was converted to a medical services aircraft. PSA acquired several BAe 146s to initiate services at airports with short runways. One of those was Buchanan Field at Concord, where I did see one on the tarmac. Other sites included Eureka and Sacramento. It was a BAe 146 I believe that crashed west of Paso Robles after a disgruntled U.S. Airways employee entered the cockpit and shot the crew. (US Airways had just taken over PSA, a move that signaled the demise of the best airline in California.)
Here's info from Wikipedia on that crash:
On December 7, 1987, PSA Flight 1771, a BAE-146, bound for San Francisco International Airport from Los Angeles International Airport, was cruising above the central California coast when it suddenly entered a high-speed nosedive and crashed on a cattle ranch near the small town of Cayucos. Investigations determined that a disgruntled USAir employee, Dave Burke, recently fired for theft, had armed himself and boarded the flight, which was carrying his former manager. After writing a suicide note on an air sickness bag, Burke shot his ex-manager, both pilots and then himself, causing the airplane to crash. All 43 aboard the jetliner -- 38 passengers and 5 crew members -- perished.