Aviation Disaster: Pacific Southwest Airline Flight 182

On September 25th 1978 a Boeing 727 just minutes before landing crashes in San Diageo, making it the first site of the biggest aviation disaster in the US history. Pacific Southwest Airline Flight 182 was having an early morning flight on the coast of California. It was travelling from Sacramento to San Diageo. Co-pilot Robert Fox, a 9 year old veteran was in charge of the plane alongside Captain James McFeron who was with PSA for 17 years, he was appreciated highly by his colleagues for his flying skills. It was the second flight of the day for both men. Among the 128 passengers flying that day, there were 30 PSA employees travelling in the flight. PSA was well known for its excellent safety and maintenance records. While arriving to San

She was a very experienced investigator of plane crashes. Funk first tries to put the wreckage of the plane together to understand what caused this horrendous collision. Funk interviews witness while memories are still fresh. She found out that none of the witnesses actually saw the collision happen, they only saw the two planes falling out of the sky. Philip huge a senior investigator, was also assigned to this case, finds out that the Cessna was flown by a student pilot who was under training. When the local media learns about this news they immediately conclude that the Cessna caused the

The Cessna never moved from the path of the PSA flight. It kept flying in front of PSA 182. Investigators wondered how veteran pilots of Boeing 727 failed to see the Cessna. The NTSB then conducted a study to see what the visual point for the PSA pilots was. They discover that the pilots often adjusted their seats to positions which made them feel comfortable, instead of adjusting their seats to the position designed by reference view position. This gave the PSA pilots about five to ten seconds to spot the Cessna. If they had adjusted their seats to the reference view position then they would have had about a hundred and seventy seconds to see the Cessna. The 727 crew had the Cessna in a blind spot. The Air traffic controller assumed that the pilots had a clear view of the Cessna. The investigators now listen to separate recordings of the pilot and the air traffic controller to understand why the captain did not explain his situation about the Cessna in a much better manner to the air traffic controller. They make a starting discovery. Minutes before the crash the captain realizes he cannot spot the Cessna anymore. He contacts the air traffic controller and says “I think the Cessna has passed on to our right”. But the controller hears that as “I think he’s passing on to our right”, to which the air traffic controller says “yes”. If the controller had heard “passed off” he would see his