Aeroméxico Flight 498
The DC-9, missing its horizontal stabilizer as a result of the collision, plummeting into Cerritos
Accident
DateAugust 31, 1986
SummaryMid-air collision due to pilot error from the Piper PA-28 Cherokee
SiteCerritos, California, U.S.
33°52′05″N 118°02′44″W / 33.86806°N 118.04556°W / 33.86806; -118.04556
Total fatalities82 (including 15 on ground)
Total injuries8 (on ground)
Total survivors0 (on planes)
First aircraft

XA-JED, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen in May 1982
TypeMcDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
NameHermosillo
OperatorAeroméxico
IATA flight No.AM498
Call signAEROMEXICO 498
RegistrationXA-JED[1]
Flight originMexico City International Airport
Mexico City, Mexico
1st stopoverMiguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
2nd stopoverLoreto International Airport
Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Last stopoverGeneral Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport
Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
DestinationLos Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupants64
Passengers58
Crew6
Fatalities64
Survivors0
Second aircraft

A Piper PA-28-181 Archer,
similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
TypePiper PA-28-181 Cherokee
OperatorPrivate
RegistrationN4891F[2]
Flight originZamperini Field
Torrance, California, U.S.
DestinationBig Bear City Airport
Big Bear Lake, California, U.S.
Occupants3
Passengers2
Crew1
Fatalities3
Survivors0
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities15
Ground injuries8

Aeroméxico Flight 498 was a scheduled commercial flight from Mexico City, Mexico, to Los Angeles, California, United States, with several intermediate stops. On Sunday, August 31, 1986, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating the flight was clipped in the tail section by N4891F, a Piper PA-28-181 Cherokee owned by the Kramer family, and crashed into the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos, killing all 64 on the DC-9, all three on the Piper and an additional 15 people on the ground. Eight on the ground also sustained minor injuries.[3] Blame was assessed equally on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the pilot of the Cherokee. No fault was found with the DC-9 or the actions of its crew.

Aircraft

The larger aircraft involved, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 with tail number XA-JED[4] named Hermosillo, was delivered in April 1969 to Delta Air Lines as N1277L before entering into service with Aeroméxico in November 1979.[5] It was flying from Mexico City to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), with intermediate stops in Guadalajara, Loreto and Tijuana.[6]

N4891F was a privately operated Piper PA-28-181 Archer owned by the Kramer family, which was flying from Torrance to Big Bear City, California. The Piper aircraft was piloted by William Kramer, 53. His wife Kathleen, 51, and daughter Caroline, 26, were also aboard. Their plane had departed Torrance at approximately 11:40 a.m. PDT. Kramer had 231 flight hours of experience and had moved to Southern California within the last year from Spokane, Washington.[7]

The cockpit crew of Flight 498 consisted of Captain Arturo Valdes Prom (46) and First Officer Jose Hector Valencia (26). The captain had 4,632 hours of flying experience in the DC-9 and a total of 10,641 flight hours. The first officer had flown 1,463 hours, of which 1,245 hours had been accumulated in the DC-9.

Accident summary

On Sunday, August 31, 1986, at approximately 11:46 a.m. PDT, Flight 498 began its descent into Los Angeles with 58 passengers and six crew members on board. At 11:52 a.m., the Piper's engine collided with the left horizontal stabilizer of the DC-9, shearing off the top of the Piper's cockpit and decapitating Kramer and both of his passengers.[8] The heavily damaged Piper fell onto an empty playground at Cerritos Elementary School.[9][10]

The DC-9, with all of its horizontal stabilizer and most of its vertical stabilizer separated, inverted and immediately entered a dive. It slammed into a residential neighborhood at Holmes Avenue and Reva Circle in Cerritos, crashing into the backyard of a house at 13426 Ashworth Place, where it exploded on impact. The explosion scattered the DC-9's wreckage across Holmes Avenue and onto Carmenita Road, destroying four other houses and damaging seven more.[11] All 64 passengers and crew on board died (plus 15 people on the ground);[8] a fire added to the damage.

Passengers and crew

NationalityPassengers  Crew    Total  
Colombia101
El Salvador101
Mexico20525
United States36137
Total58664

Thirty-six of the passengers were citizens of the United States. Of the 20 Mexican citizens, 11 lived in the U.S. and nine lived in Mexico. One Salvadoran citizen lived in Islip, New York. Ten of the passengers were children.[12]

Investigation and aftermath

Annotated aerial view of the site where the Aeroméxico plane crashed. The Piper crashed in the playground of Cerritos Elementary School about a Km away.[13]

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation found that the Piper had entered the Los Angeles Terminal Control Area (TCA) airspace (now Class B Airspace) without the required clearance. The TCA included a triangular slab of airspace from 6,000 to 7,000 feet (1,800 to 2,100 m) of altitude, reaching south to 33°42′50″N 118°00′25″W / 33.714°N 118.007°W / 33.714; -118.007 across the Piper's intended flight path. The Piper could legally fly beneath this airspace without contacting air traffic control (ATC), but instead climbed into the TCA. The ATC had been distracted by another unauthorized private flight, a Grumman AA-5B Tiger, entering the TCA directly north of the airfield, which also did not have clearance.

The Piper was not equipped with a Mode C transponder, nor was one required, which would have indicated its altitude, and LAX was not equipped with automatic warning systems. Neither pilot appeared to have attempted any evasive maneuvers because neither pilot sighted the other aircraft, although they were in visual range. When an autopsy revealed significant arterial blockage in Kramer's heart, public speculation arose suggesting that he had experienced a heart attack that incapacitated him and led to the collision,[14] but further forensic evidence discounted the theory and Kramer's error was determined to be the main contributing factor to the collision.[8]

As a result of this accident and other near midair collisions in terminal control areas, the FAA required that all jets in U.S. airspace be equipped with a traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) and required that light aircraft operating in dense airspaces be equipped with Mode C transponders, which can report their altitude.[15]

A jury ruled that the DC-9 bore no fault, instead deciding that Kramer and the FAA each acted equally negligently and bore equal responsibility.[16] Federal Air Regulations 14 CFR 91.113 (b) require pilots of all aircraft to maintain vigilance to "see and avoid"[17] other aircraft that might be on conflicting flight paths.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit applied the Supreme Court of California's ruling in Thing v. La Chusa to extend recovery for negligent infliction of emotional distress to Theresa Estrada, whose husband and two of four children were killed on the ground as the result of the crash. In the television documentary Mayday, Estrada reported that she saw the explosion from a distance;[18] Thing requires that the person be at the scene and aware of the injury being caused to the victim.[19] She arrived minutes later with her home consumed by fire and surrounded by burning homes, cars and aircraft debris. In a separate trial on damages, the Estrada family was awarded a total of $868,263 in economic damages and $4.7 million in noneconomic damages, including $1 million for the negligent infliction of emotional distress.[20]

The flight number, 498, was recycled as a flight from Mexico City International Airport to McCarran International Airport via Monterrey International Airport, using an Embraer 190 operated by Aeroméxico's subsidiary Aeroméxico Connect.[21] As of February 2018, the flight number has been retired. Aeroméxico still continues to fly to Los Angeles, but under the number of "Flight 646", using a Boeing 737 Next Generation or Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The Discovery Channel Canada/National Geographic television series Mayday featured the accident in a Season 4 episode titled "Out of Sight".[22] The accident was featured again during Season 8 in a compilation episode titled "System Breakdown".[23]

A similar accident is depicted in the Breaking Bad episode "ABQ". The show's main character has the same name as the air-traffic controller in the real-life accident, Walter White.[24][25]

It is featured in season 1, episode 5, of the TV show Why Planes Crash, in an episode called "Collision Course".

In August 2022, KNBC produced The Nightmare of Flight 498, led by reporter Hetty Chang, who had been a 7-year-old child residing in the neighborhood where the DC-9 crashed and a student at the school where the Piper Cherokee crashed. Interspersed with news reports from the crash, Chang interviewed her parents, neighbors (including one who resided at 13426 Ashworth Place where the DC-9 exploded), and first responders about their recollections of the crash.

Memorial

The Cerritos Air Disaster Memorial in the Cerritos Sculpture Garden

On March 11, 2006, the city of Cerritos dedicated a new sculpture garden featuring a memorial to the victims of the accident.[26] The sculpture, designed by Kathleen Caricof,[27] consists of three pieces. One piece resembling a wing commemorates the victims aboard the Aeroméxico jet and the Piper. A similar but smaller and darker wing commemorates the victims who were killed on the ground. Each wing rests on a pedestal that lists victims in alphabetical order. A bench for reflection is situated in front of the two wings.[28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "XA-JED Aeroméxico McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30". planespotters.net. January 22, 2012. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  2. ↑ "FAA Registry (N4891F)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  3. ↑ "Jet, plane collide near L.A." Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). wire reports. September 1, 1986. p. A1. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  4. ↑ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 XA-JED Cerritos, CA". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on September 2, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Airliners.net – Aviation Photography, Discussion Forums & News". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  6. ↑ Magnuson, Ed (June 24, 2001). "Collision in the 'Birdcage'". Time. Archived from the original January 27, 2008.
  7. ↑ Carollo, Russell; Caldwell, Bert (September 2, 1986). "Ex-Spokanite piloted plane that hit DC-9". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. A1. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 "Aircraft accident report: Collision of Aeronaves de Mexico, S.A. McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, XA-JED and Piper PA-28-181, N4891F. Cerritos, California. August 31, 1986" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. July 7, 1987. NTSB/AAR-87/07. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 3, 2023. - Copy at Archived September 1, 2023, at the Wayback Machine Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
  9. ↑ located at these coordinates: 33°51′55.76″N 118°2′23.97″W / 33.8654889°N 118.0399917°W
  10. ↑ "The Story of Cerritos: Chapter 8 1976–1986 – Growth, Development and an Unnatural Disaster". City of Cerritos. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Aircraft Collision Over Los Angeles Suburb", (diagram) Daily Herald (Chicago), September 2, 1986, p. 6
  12. ↑ "Collision Victims on DC-9" Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. The New York Times. September 2, 1986. Tuesday, Late City Final Edition. Section D, Page 17, Column 5. National Desk.
  13. ↑ Woolsey, Brittany (January 13, 2014). "Cerritos remembers 1986 plane crash". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Pilot of plane suffered heart attack". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). wire services. September 2, 1986. p. A1. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  15. ↑ Gerber, Larry, AP, "1986 Cerritos crash changed the way we fly," The Intelligencer Record (Doylestown, Pa.), September 1, 1996, p A-13
  16. ↑ "Jury Fixes Blame for Crash That Killed 82". The New York Times. Reuters. April 15, 1989. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 7, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Electronic Code of Federal Regulations". Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Devastating Collision On Flight 498 | Out Of Sight | Mayday: Air Disaster". YouTube. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2021. - The content showing Estrada discussing witnessing AM498 is at about 14:30. Access date from a different URL.
  19. ↑ "Thing v. La Chusa | Case Brief for Law Students". Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  20. ↑ In Re Air Crash Disaster Near Cerritos, 967 F.2d 1421 Archived November 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine (9th Cir.1992)
  21. ↑ "AeroMéxico (AM) #498 ✈ FlightAware". Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Falling From the Sky". Mayday. Season 4. 2007. Discovery Channel Canada / National Geographic Channel.
  23. ↑ "System Breakdown". Mayday. Season 8. 2009. Discovery Channel Canada / National Geographic Channel.
  24. ↑ "Air Controller's Nightmare: 'I Lost an Airplane'". Los Angeles Times. December 3, 1986. Archived from the original on February 6, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  25. ↑ "13 Mind-Blowing Things You Never Noticed In 'Breaking Bad'". Tell Tales. telltalesonline. June 21, 2015. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  26. ↑ "Sculpture Garden dedication press release". City of Cerritos. March 3, 2006. Archived from the original on October 9, 2007. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
  27. ↑ CARICOPsculpture (Archive)
  28. ↑ "Cerritos Air Disaster Memorial". City of Cerritos. Archived from the original on September 18, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2010.
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