This project was supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian Made accessible through a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation and Photo Friends
On January 31, 1957, a Douglas DC-7B transport plane crashed into the school yard of Pacoima Junior High School, 9919 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, after colliding with a Northrop F-89J Scorpion jet trainer plane. Debris was also strewn across the grounds of Terra Bella Elementary School, adjacent to the junior high, and Pacoima Congregational Church, next door to the school. Three students and five airmen died and many more students were injured. The radarman aboard the jet was the only airman who survived. See images 00147115 through 00147134 for all photos in this series. Photograph article dated January 31, 1962 partially reads, "The tape, five years old today, spun slowly on the machine from one reel to the other. The girl's recorded voice was faint, hard to hear. 'The happiest days of our lives - ' she said, but the rest was lost. Jumble. Static. The tape broke. Then: 'We all have but one life to live -' Suddenly there was a roar. Louder. The noise was deafening. A series of loud bangs. Fire bells. Then silence. 'That's where the power went out,' said William Albers, boys' vice principal at Pacoima Junior High School. He rewound the tape, shut off the machine. 'The girl was Linda Luttrell, 14, delivering the final of four graduation speeches. The banging was from doors slamming in the auditorium. The roar was the plane.' The plane - or pieces of it - smashed into the school yard. Five years ago today. Eight persons, three of them children were killed. More than 70 were injured. Two planes collided in mid-air near the school. One, a DC-7 transport on a test flight, crashed on the crowded playground between the junior high school at 9919 Laurel Canyon Blvd. and the Terra Bella Elementary School. The second plane, an F-89 jet, hit near 8811 La Tuna Canyon Rd. in the Verdugo Hills. The pilot of the jet and four crewmen of the transport were killed." See images 00147130 through 00147135 for all photos in this series.
Pacoima Middle School (Los Angeles, Calif.) Aircraft accidents--California--Los Angeles Accident victims--California--Los Angeles Middle schools--California--Pacoima (Los Angeles) School buildings--California--Los Angeles Schools--California--Pacoima (Los Angeles) Playgrounds--California--Los Angeles Pacoima (Los Angeles, Calif.)
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