These Final Airplane Crash Messages Are Haunting

Publish date: 2024-05-04

On September 25, 1978, a deadly mid-air collision between Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 and a Cessna Skyhawk resulted in the deaths of 144 people. The final death toll would include not only the two people in the Cessna and all of the passengers and crew of Flight 182 but also people on the ground when a San Diego suburb was turned into a crash zone. The scene was nightmarish, with one responding San Diego Police Academy trainee recalling (to San Diego Magazine, via the Independent): "All around us was the stench of kerosene and burning flesh. There were no faces on the bodies. There were no bodies to speak of — only pieces."

Transcripts of the recording made from Flight 182's black box are eerie. Warned of the presence of the Cessna, pilots lost sight of the smaller craft and asked, "Are we clear of that Cessna?" The others in the cockpit responded with, "Suppose to be," "I guess," and "I hope." Unfortunately, they were not as clear as they believed.

The impact was imminent, and it took just 17 seconds for Flight 182 to crash. In those seconds, voices from the cockpit are heard saying, "We're hit man, we are hit." The captain warns, "Brace yourself," and then, in the final second of the recording, someone can be heard saying, "Ma, I love ya!"

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