You really have to think about the passengers in the DC-9; when the cockpit section of the plane was literally sliced off the passengers were basically in a hollow tube with the front end wide open with tornado-force winds blowing in their faces and a wide-open view of the ground thousands of feet below them as they fell. That's the stuff that nightmares are made of!
Hi Steve I was 11 yrs old on Sunday June 6th 1971 the time was 6:18 pm my father was playing ball with me in our driveway in Azusa california we had been watching the fighter jet doing manuvers it went into a roll ad my father three me the ball I looked back to see it and it was in kind of a flutter type motion and went behind the mountain mt bliss the dc 9 tumbled down on top of my bliss and u could see it very clearly from our house in Azusa there were 2 shock waves that shook the entire area I remember the pressure of it some minutes after the only survivor RDO parachute down on fish canyon I can tell you that the planes hit so hard all Passengers probly never knew it that was a terrible accident that I think about most every day for over 50yrs accross fish canyon there is a park at the base of the mountain they shut it down and put up a big yellow tent I remember seeing them takeing body bags
It is unlikely anyone was conscious after the impact, and at an altitude of 1550, they would have hit the ground which was 3,000' where they hit, within 12 seconds. (It usually takes about 5 seconds for each 1000 feet). So from impact at 1550', in 5 seconds they would have enough oxygen to breathe at 10,000' but I doubt anyone was conscious; it had to be an astounding impact which probably knocked people out, but if someone was awake, they would have hardly had time to wonder "what was that" before impact. Sad situation for all involved. RIP to all 50 souls.
Wouldn’t the planes at that height have sudden and explosive decompression? Especially the passenger plane. I doubt they had time to process much of anything.
I saw the airliner in flames right after the collision. I was a senior in HS in Alhambra, CA. I was on a family hike in the San Gabrial mountains, and I happened to look up. I saw the airliner in the distance, with a tail of flames longer than the jet, and I saw it silently decending and dissappear over the next ridge. It was so strange to see it and know they were going to crash and die. The next day the crash was on the front page of the papers. So sad.
Wow! That's crazy. I lived near and airport for a couple of year( smaller one) and I was paranoid of seeing the same thing. 20 years back a plane did crash trying to land there. Went right off the runway and into a shopping center. Griffin Ga
Especially when what you were seeing was unable to be heard. It sounds surreal. What a disgraceful incident to cause this. It wasn't an accident so much as a series of bullshit from the Marine side that lead them to gung ho their way through, with fatal consequences. I wonder what the lone survivor Christopher Schiess, thinks of all this now, assuming he's still alive?
Wow! Could U hear the sound of the collision? My father was a Marine F-4 pilot in the ‘70’s who had a crash landing in one. He often flew in & out of El Toro.
Wow. Thanks for sharing. There were probably not many eyewitnesses. I was thirteen and happened to be in the phone booth at my school in Arcadia. I remember hearing/feeling two different "booms". They were less than a few seconds apart, so I'm left wondering if the second shock was an aircraft hitting the ground (not likely) or if it was just a second shockwave due to the collision.
I remember that day. My family lived in Monrovia, just about 20 miles S.W. of the crash site. My dad and I were outside and heard a loud BOOM and several smaller booms followed several seconds later by a really loud explosion but didn't realize what the the cause was. A few minutes later a large 4 engine gray Military plane flew over our house headed N.E. at about 3-4 thousand feet. My Dad had gone back inside our House and came outside a few minutes later to say that what we heard was 2 airplanes colliding and crashing up near Fish Canyon. A friend of mine was at the San Gabriel Gun Range that day and saw the Passenger plane crash. He said everybody looked up when they heard the loud boom and saw the Passenger plane and many small pieces falling from the sky. Sad Day.
Wow… I used to go to San Gabriel Valley Gun Club (aka “Fish Canyon”) and I work in Monrovia on Myrtle. I know where that took place but I was a child when that happened. So sad.
I remember hearing this collision in our backyard having a family bbq. We thought it was a sonic boom. We used to hear those before they basically outlawed them near populated areas. I was ten years old at the time.
@@LoneWolfRanging There should have been a preflight check of navagation equipment, and failing equipment replaced.If no replacement oe fix was available, the plane should have been grounded until equipment was fixed.
It is strange. Rear seat command initiated ejections with front seat automatically selected as secondary ejection had been successfully used previously on other aircraft. I will have to research and see if I can find a detailed description of the deficency in that F4 model.
That is the way it is supposed to work, the rear seat has to fire first and eject first or the rocket motor of the front seat will burn the back seater and cause sever injuries. the difference is 3/4 second between the two. the F-4 has a 00 seat (zero zero) meaning it will shoot the person up 750 feet. The seat rockets are very powerful.
I was JUST thinking, I need a new Flight Channel video to watch! And here it is. This crash seems to be absolutely the Marine’s responsibility. Flying an aircraft with all those faults is so crazy. And although the people who died can never be replaced, I hope the families were well compensated for their losses. RIP. Great job on the video!
None of the stated faults affected how the plane flew, they could've made it to El Toro no problem if they didn't run into the only other plane in the sky. What are the odds? They should have flown another bird up from El Toro to escort them and provide early warning. That happens more than you'd think also.
@@x-man5056 being stupid and criminally negligent is not an excuse, it's a reason to prosecute. The Marines should have stayed below 10k because they did not have oxygen. Being oxygen deprived may have affected their judgement and action, they should have known better. That far out from the airport, the DC9 would have been above 10k as is known by the altitude they were flying or climbing out of at the time of the incident.
@@davidkeeton6716 Your oxygen theory has merit but there was no evidence offered that the pilot was suffering from hypoxia. They did say that the marine pilot did attempt a last moment maneuver though so that at least would indicate he was conscious. The root cause IS pilot error but it was the decision to fly. We saw some person's of unknown expertise interpretation of some record some where. Maybe it was someone related to someone who was killed and was bias. Can't be too definitive about details until you know them and we all know what's in the details. And I don't think the Marines would be to forthcoming of a request to see the official record. Just a hunch. Should be public record though. NTSB or FAA maybe.
@Brad James Might have helped, might not. Still unclear whether it was a legal requirement. Transponders of the early 70's weren't much. ATC would have to have done all the math and cautioned or redirected one of the aircraft. A transponder wouldn't have given warning directly to the airliner, only to ATC but they would have to see it and be curious enough to do the calculations all while babysitting God knows how many other aircraft in that area.
@@x-man5056 , thank goodness, at least all these computations are now done quickly by a computer, and every active transponder signal in the area can be seen on each airborne aircraft these days. I'm so glad that the technology has greatly advanced since this tragedy.
Never would have thought I would see the name of my hometown and names of my relatives’ hometowns mentioned in one of these videos. It is a very insignificant piece of info, but it demonstrates the creator’s thorough research and dedication to accurate and complete storytelling. Very well done. This is why I continue to watch these animations.
I agree 100% bad radar in a supersonic aircraft flying VFR is only asking for trouble in a congested airspace! IMHO and bad oxygen system would ground my jets in my day!
@@eclipse_wolf1245 They thrive off of seeing people die. That's why they don't have ejection seats in passenger airliners. They love it. Sick on a whole nother level
@@Gizamalukeix wtf are you on looooool it’d be impossible to put ejection seats for all passengers and if they did manage it the aircraft would be stupid expensive get your fucking crazy conspiracies out your head
That F-4b had no right to be in the sky. 100% the fault of the people who sent that plane into the air. For the NTSB to somehow even suggest the DC-9s crew was at fault is a travesty that should be corrected.
It is ridiculous to bring up See and Avoid in this situation. None of us could possibly see a 400-knot Phantom in time. Unbelievable that the CO told them to fly without a transponder or oxygen - let alone into the LAX TCA. Today there would be multiple violations for that but who knows in 1971.
Not unusual to fly without oxygen on a training cross-country flight. Just have to mind your altitude. Pilots, even on combat sorties, would frequently shut off oxygen and smoke a damn cigarette in flight. I know, cleaned many a butt out of cockpits.
"Oh, you just need to see and avoid the other airplanes traveling at hundreds of miles an hour. Easy peasy." Edit: I guess I have to mention that this comment was sarcastic, it was supposed to mock the stupidity of VFR
@@ABQSkywatcher Indeed. I wonder if their radar went all the way out during the flight. Even modest warning would've been enough to avoid the airliner.
How careless/reckless is the Marine Corps to fly broken planes so many times in the 2 days prior to this collision? This is the USMC’s fault all the way. Unbelievable.
Well, your conclusion is incorrect. Airplanes fly EVERYDAY in degraded mode…..even airliners. He was VFR, 250 kts , below 18,000 and was not in an airspace requiring two way communication. He was legal. Occasionally, the big sky little airplane theory isn’t favorable.
I actually saw this collision or more specifically several seconds after, while the flaming planes were spinning into the mountains. At the time my family lived in Azusa CA. I was about 10 years old. I was walking out the front door of our home and heard a large explosion, I looked towards the mountains and saw both planes on fire spinning into the mountains.
I always find it crazy how time in small margins can make such a difference in life, imagine the f-4 pilot decided to go for a piss before takeoff and this wouldn’t have happened, or maybe he did go for a piss and then it did happen
Or took a piss and crashed into a bigger plane with more people. The way the military was, this looked like it was going to happen at some point. Terrible no one got punished.
He really only needed to change about 5 seconds.....if that! If he had flown his jet one mile an hour faster or slower.... or took 30 seconds to say the, "Lord's Prayer" before he left. That prayer would have saved his life!
I think of those things all the time" the enormous amount of little things when if changed just the slightest bit, things may not have happened as they did, if one of the pilots would have been asleep 10-20 seconds longer that morning, this may not have happened😉
This military airplane was flying in quite deplorable conditions, as there were simultaneous faults in oxygen delivery, radar (in an interceptor aircraft!) and transponder. I am not able to know if the collision could be avoided, but it is sad that an interceptor was not able to see a large airplane like a DC-9 that was approaching in time
True. Having spent 6 years in F-4 squadrons and 2 in a Harrier squadron, I can tell you that this F-4 would not have been allowed to fly. But a couple of points are relevant -- the radar is not considered a safety of flight item on this type of flight (ironically, the one thing that might have saved them). But the radios and the oxygen would have kept the bird on the ground. Who knows what the pressures were to get to El Toro during the Vietnam war.
How could they not have descended? Even with five seconds notice would have made such a difference as the DC- 9 could not of been descending below 15,000 and the Phantom was at 15,500 ..I just do not get this? The Phantom is so responsive so the DC-9 would of had to have been descending simultaneously..
@@aldenunion the simulation is not completely representative of reality. It's likely they didn't have visual until too late and were traveling much faster than depicted here, which is multiple angles and different perspectives
@@pkop4 Yes,I figured that after commenting... Perspective up in the air is crazy and fast , wind sheer could even create a suction effect. Even with doing the 360 manuever to view,by the time he equalized for evasiveness,to fast approaching. No matter how qualified, experienced, sometimes every factor is against..Terrible luck..Salute.
The Flight Channel is one of the finest channels on TH-cam hands down!!! Extremely realistic and based on facts. Whoever makes these videos I give you a standing ovation!!! Who else thinks TheFlight Channel is the BEST ON TH-cam??? I DO!!!
I think all the dead people would strongly agree with that including the families . I hope they sued the crap out off the military for that mildly put...blunder .
@ROBSHOTZ Exactly the commander should have refused to let it fly since it's pretty clear there was no critical reason for it to continue from what we know.
@@generalyellor2187 Article 95 UCMJ: 'Dereliction of duty." In the civilian world malpractice is a civil issue. In the military it's a criminal offense. I suspect that several officers resigned their commissions rather than face a courts-martial.
@@urbanmidnight1 You are thinking like a pilot. If something doesn't look right, feel right, or smell right during a preflight inspection by the pilot, the flight is scrubbed...no matter who says differently. A reprimand for not following orders is much preferred to death.
“Here’s one they just made up...Near Miss... when two plans almost collide they call it a near miss...ITS A NEAR HIT...a collision is a near miss...BOOM...look they nearly missed”- George Carlin
@@aerlial360 One Of The Greats,and one of my favorite bits by him...”get on the plane,get on the plane...I say fuck you I’m getting in the plane,in the plane...let Evil Knievel get on the plane”
I will never forget the sound of this crash. I lived a few miles away from the accident and was outside in the pool when it happened. Being so young my friend and I thought it was neighbors who habitually lit off really loud fireworks,lighting off a louder then usual one. Another sad accident that could have been avoided .
I can't believe the Jarheads let these guys fly the plane period in the condition it was in. This is totally the fault of the USMC. The plane should have been grounded until the proper repairs could have been performed. If it was so necessary that these two guys be brought back to El Torro, then they damn well should've put them on the next MAC flight out. Stupid cost cutting.
@@xtbum3339 nah, the Marines are a buncha freaking cheapskates. It was so much worse back then. They annoyed the piss out of the Navy, too, on the carriers. Still do.
Well the Vietnam war was still happening and the Cold War in it's entirety was still ongoing, the military's of the world had a lot of equipment to handle back then and inevitably corners are cut to save time and money, especially when a war could break out in any minute and simultaneously end in less than 24 hours as the Nuclear Warheads take flight.
The fact that there were so many failures on this plane alone makes one wonder what fraction of the planes were actually in airworthy condition at the time? Would any civilian flight be permitted to take off with multiple system failures known about prior to the flight? I doubt it.
I was playing with my friends on Deerlane in Duarte, CA when we heard a boom. I never saw the Marine Jet, but saw the Airliner just kind of falling level and down in to the area above Van Tassel Canyon and Bliss. The next few weeks were horrific in that part or Duarte.
I was three when this crash occurred. My family moved onto Fieldview (intersected by Deerlane to the north and Conata to the south) in 1977. I don't remember anyone talking about this crash while I was growing up. I hiked all over the surrounding mountains, including one hike to Mt. Bliss.
I was at a friends house in Bradbury, a small community above Duarte, and witnessed the immediate aftermath as the planes broke apart and plummeted to the ground. Never will forget!
Can you imagine how the pilots would have felt after seeing they have been torn away from the rest of the aircraft. If that was me the hopelessness would would have been unspeakable.
@@hardychip3736 ...if that were true then why practice any safety? If you’re time is up it’s up? Drunk driving? High speeds? No one can prevent their own deaths?
That certainly puts everything into perspective, especially those of us unfamiliar with aviation. My sympathies to the surviving family members and friends for this avoidable incident. Incredible footage that looks so real I became dizzy and nauseas.
I was 9 years old and remember my father coming home very distressed, not so much angry, but shocked at that time only knowing that they had lost one of There's. He had been with the airline since 56 under numerous names West Coast, Air West, and most recently Hughes Air West since Howard and the SUMA Corporation had purchased it. It had been so recent the aircraft has not yet been repainted Bannana Yellow. My father had numerous hours in this plane and knew the flight crew. He was just angry at the needless waste of good people and passengers, and the reality sinking in that this could have just as easily happened to him and his flight crew and passenger.
@Aquardis i don't get why people always call made up, i would think the likeliness of people with stories about these events that affected their lives in some way or another wouldn't be low for them to look up a video about it on youtube and add their perspective to it, it's not like a lot of random people got shown a video without searching for it and a ton just happened to have a story about it, it's a pretty controlled group, different than like kids saying their great grandpa survived the titanic or something
One of our main r44s at our flight school crashed because of maintenance/weight overloading and was fatal to the pilot and passengers, I remember flying and riding in it with my family. Pretty terrifying but that's what happens in aviation.
In 1971 I was 10 years old when this happened. My father worked for an aerospace company on irwindale Ave in Azusa. They had some empty building space and the NTSB brought the remnants of the DC-9 to their building to reconstruct what they could of the aircraft to figure out what happened. Do not remember if the Phantom was brought there as well. For a 10 year old who went to work with his dad on the weekends, this was vision I will always remember. My father was a pilot with many hours of flight time as well. I remember the talk about all the issues the phantom had and it should have been put out of operation.
IFF, radio and radar all inoperative, what could go wrong? Obviously there is more to this story than the clip shows but in my days in Naval Aviation in the late 70's, this cross country flight would have never left the ground until these gripes were cleared.
I left the Navy in 2016 as an AW1. What you said never changed. Certain flights would never be authorized in even half of these conditions presented here.
this acceident hurted me a lot, just imagining yourself being in that senario at that moment make you almost cry. Thanks tho TheFlightChannel for making amazing videos !
Yeah sounds about right , and you best believe if pilot survived he would of got a ass chewing for crashing it too even though it wasn’t his fault , oh how I love the corps
@@akidim13 F4 was not "old" in 1971 atc has also changed allot, how they operate, many many accidents happened in the 70s, only real comment here is that it was a tragedy,.. i would suggest that if anyone is interested their is a full documentary on this accudent as well, today we have tcas, in those days, see and avoid,...too sad, their is a control to decide who has command control for the ejection sequence, in the F4,..
In 1971, the Vietnam War was still raging and those directly involved were give priority on parts, equipment, maintenance, and personnel. This was especially hard on the USMC because it is a smaller force so received less money. Back in the USA, existing combat aircrafts were pushed to the limits for training and maintenance suffered. The pressure of the Vietnam War meant that aircrafts were allowed to fly that should have been grounded in order to fulfill the mission to ready aircrews for Vietnam.
I remember having a similar ALMOST accident in 2005. My grade was heading to D.C. for the 8th grade D.C. trip. We had left O'Hare at about 7 or 8 in the morning and weren't arriving at Richmond Airport until almost 10ish in the morning. We had about 30 minutes before landing was even in sight. It was a beautiful crisp November morning w/ little fog and low clouds. I wake up to the sun in my eyes to my right. I had a C seat next the wing and window view. Some time goes by and I'm sight seeing. I can hear the our engines in my ear. I suddenly hear the noise of another plane and it's getting louder and louder. When you've been around enough planes in your life, you'll know the difference between a United set of 4 turbo engines and an F-14/F-16 super sonic engine. I look out my window and see nothing for a few minutes. Then I start seeing a fuel tail and a plane headed straight for us. I'm trying to see what kind of plane and realize it's a fighter plane. I'm thinking, "This isn't happening...." and I keep my eyes on it thee entire time. When it disappears, I check to see where it had gone and sure shit we just missed it.... Luckily, the fighter plane had been going about 30 knots faster than us, because I then later saw it out multiple windows across from me flying by. As we approached it's jet stream, I could see in full detail thee entire plane. I literally couldn't believe it. Both of our planes were at the same altitude where we were both window level of one another. If we had been going 5 knots faster, we both would have hit one another head on. If we had been going 15-30 knots faster, the fighter plane would have split the plane in two at dead center and we would have blown up in the sky..... Definitely, grateful to be alive.....
Content such as this reminds me of a simple yet frightening truth: assumptions can be deadly. Military pilots assuming their flight path -- descending and ascending patterns at will, in one of the busiest areas for aircraft , without any ATC involvement nor informing ATC of their inadequacies -- and the senior officer who approved them to fly through that space without transponder and radar literally as inept as could be. It's always cool seeing fighter jets taking off and when in the air but videos like this drive home the dangers of being in a plane anywhere near or not so near one of them. This video btw is superb. So much detail to provide which could not have been done better.
@@munapulido9054 I don't believe it was corruption as much as it was incompetence. I served for 21 years in the USAF and have read numerous accident reports. In nearly all of them, there were a series of mistakes that attributed to the accident. An aircraft with no transponder, no radar and a problem with the oxygen, should have never been cleared to fly. On top of all this, the malfunction in the ejection system killed the pilot.
@@munapulido9054 I'm not exactly sure what you are saying. As far as maintenance goes, the top of the chain of command is ultimately responsible but shit flows downhill, to the maintenance people. And yes, someone will be held responsible. I witnessed an aircraft crash because the wing folds were not locked down. The pilots who did not catch it during the walk-around were relieved of flying duties. The crew chief ended up working in the tool crib. The careers of all involved suffered.
I have to say I hope you see this your page is amazing. The amount of detail into each video is incredible to the point I actually want to learn how to fly now. One of the best channels on TH-cam no doubt.
Whenever I watch these videos I always think that it could be me as well. When we onboard we never think about any mishappening but it is possible that it would be our last day. and when I think about that I think that how our life is so fragile. and how we are dealing with it? with grief? with sadness? with guilt? We don't know when we'll die.. may be from our mistakes or from someone else mistake or may be nobody mistake. So, live your life till your last breath.. spread love.. peace... care for others.. because you never know what is next.
That is the trick. Spaces are not so open in a space filled with airplanes. It is like crossing a highway on foot, but in 3D. The idea of open comes from not seeing a plane and suddenly it is on you. Try to play air traffic controller (ATC) games and you will see.
@@limesoda7426 Basically Frogger in 3D. Anyway, it is easier just to pull down the stick instead of trying to turn. Search video "star wars bruno". In the description there is a link to the installer. You may practice evading full of adrenaline. Fan made game.
@@limesoda7426 This is one of my favorite arcade games. I love adrenaline piloting (for games, of course, in real world I drive like a grandpa). "Battletech fan" channel has Mechwarrior 2 trilogy installation guides. Links in the description have everything you need. That is full of adrenaline too. It is a retro game about giant robot combat. You may like it too. The channel also has a visual guide for the tabletop version of the game. It started as tabletop game in 1984.
OMG. I forgot all about this! I was 8 years old living in Glendora. All the windows in the house shook with a distinctive B-Boom Clap-clap! It really scook us all up. My dad somehow knew it was a midair collision, he kept saying that. After about an hour KNX news reported it. I was very neourvious because we had a bad earthquake a few months earlier.
THANK YOU BEEN WAITING A LONG TIME on this one ! Was just 7 when this tragic crash happened. LOTS of safety enhancements resulted. RIP to all who were lost.
Our family was at El Toro for the annual air show that day, and I remember this fighter squadron being based there. We had no idea an F4 from the air station had collided with an airliner until later when the news reports started coming in.
Thank you for this amazing film of this tragic incident. The graphics were fantastic. I am always moved by the music at the end of your films, which brings the sadness of the event to the human heart.
I remember as a kid hearing and feeling the accident in Monrovia. We had that big earthquake in the beginning of the year. It was extremely loud and the shock was felt on Myrtle Ave. It’s still surreal to this day...
I had just graduated from college, and was walking home to my parent's house in Duarte from the Alpha Beta store when I heard a distant explosion. Looking east, I saw something plummet straight down from the sky. After dropping off my groceries, I drove to the Fish Canyon area of Duarte only to find that the roads had been blocked off by police cars. I returned home, turned on the TV and learned that it had been an in-flight crash between a commercial passenger jet and a military aircraft. Later, there were rumors that the military jet had been doing a victory roll just prior to the collision, but it was subsequently judged to be an evasive maneuver by the pilot. God save the souls of those who perished.
I was 8 years old and my father was a Captain on the DC-9 with Air-West and had flown this aircraft on numerous occasions. He came home from a trip the night this had happened and I just remember him talking in hushed voices with my mom and calling numerous other pilots and discussing it. I was shielded from knowing what had happened, but at eight was the first time I realized that mom and dad's didn't always come home safe trips every time.
Amazing that this video was just released yesterday and already has over 360,000 views! Proof that TheFlightChannel has a lot of dedicated subscribers... 🏆👍
I was a controller in that exact sector at L.A. Center (sector 18, 118.55) for almost 9 years before I found out about this accident. Nobody ever talked about it, probably because the controller working that day must have been hugely traumatized that he hadn't noticed the raw radar primary target of the F4 (if there even was one), and others in the facility may have thought it was a partial failure of ATC as a result. The radar back then though was broadband analog so didn't show histories that make it easier to detect moving objects, instead they were just pulsing blips every 12 seconds and there was always so much ground clutter in that area from the mountains (buildings and trucks at high elevation all showed up, maybe around fifty random blips in that sector alone every single radar sweep). Just really tough to see a small target like an F4 moving among all that ground clutter. Had it been maybe 50 miles to the north in the flat high desert, it probably would have stood out more to the controller and maybe this wouldn't have happened.
Only seconds to make decisions. While stationed at MCAS in 1964 and assigned to VMFA squadron I had the opportunity to get a back seat ride ( RIO ) in the F4. Have total respect for both the pilots and RIO`s, plane scares the hell out of you by just its power. Semper Fi Ps. The ejection seats in 1964 were Martin Baker
Back in 1997 when I was 14. I was on a plane from London to canary Islands for a holiday. My first flight. Sat by window. And with a blink and miss it (so fast) moment, a fighter jet plane flew straight under our plane. Must have been 40 feet below max. My parents thought I was making it up as I guess these things "don't happen". Remember it as clear as day.
I don’t know much about fighter jets, but couldn’t the pilot just pitch down into a dive to avoid the DC? I guess it must’ve been seconds from when they noticed it to impact.
There was a collision in which the sharp pitching movement of one aircraft put its eppenage into the other aircraft. Remember the pitch axis is far ahead of the eppenage structure. Even with the turn and possible dive action the F-4's eppenage may still have ended up in the flight path of the DC9.
First rule of avoiding a crash is to steer to where the (Car, Plane, Boat) is now. It won't be there when you get there. If the motion in the simulation is accurate. The F-4 pilot is totally guilty.
@@proehm bro these arent gocarts or normal cars they are flying at 200~ m/s, and with all that thrust, turning a plane isn't really simple. You can hardly see a plane crossing, in fact you won't know you're in the flight paths, that's why radio towers are so crucial and why pilots check the flightpaths. But yea u rite on with the logic it's just not applicable.
Great video my friend I never knew about this one. A good friend of mine was a F-4 Phantom pilot, "the Major" as we called him. He said those planes were the best back then but he said they handled like a tractor. "The F-4 was very fast if you wanted to go in a strait line, not really good at maneuvering like if you needed to turn".
Yes, U.S. military Aviation had labored under the delusion that the missile made dogfighting obsolete, that air battles would just involve volleys of air/air missiles at Beyond visual range. So all U.S. military aircraft were designed to carry a lot of missiles at very high speed and to have a large powerful radar.
Very serious safety violations by the Marines. This squadron was in Vietnam in '69-'70 as I was part of the same airgroup. What is ironic, VMFA-314 was the Marines top rated fighter squadron in '69 and won several awards not only for highest readiness but, also safety...
II was a freshman in high school, when this happened. I was standing in my front yard, talking with my across the street neighbor, when we heard a long "BOOM!", and then what sounded like echoes of the explosion. It was coming from the direction of Santa Anita canyon, which is just a couple of small canyons from where the crash happened. There was a news bulletin that came in the TV, that said what happened. Just horrible.
Normally, the Phantom crew would have been flying much higher, above any commercial traffic where it's clear. But all the troubles (no 02) put them down on the deck. Shouldn't have been up there. Ditch the plane at NAS Fallon for repairs and take the bus to El Toro.
I just came upon this video by chance and it’s horrifying. My cousin was one of the passengers on that plane. She was flying back to SLC after her sisters wedding the day before to pack up her dorm room at BYU before coming back home for the summer. She was such an amazing young woman that had so much to offer the world. I had just turned 8 a couple of days before and couldn’t wait for her to come home so I could go up to stay with her and my uncle and aunt. I absolutely adored her. It was devastating to our whole family. The original reports in 1971 said the Marine jet came up from underneath the DC9, thus making it impossible for the flight crew to see it and take evasive measures. The military never really took responsibility. I don’t believe they did anything for the families of the victims, some of whose remains were never recovered. I remember it like it was yesterday.
@@lucdevincke2055 True. I was alluding to a more granular approach, but I'd also venture to suggest it was more arrogance than outright incompetence. Like someone who gets behind the wheel drunk because "I've done it hundreds of times and nothing ever happened..."
@@jesseleblanc1199 The thing with any accident chain is that we only see the chain post incident. If the incident doesn't happen, no one looks for the chain. It's the reverse of Schrodinger's cat in a way. We know the outcome but we don't can't see the cause until we look for it.
As a retired Air Force aircraft mechanic I must say that I'm very much surprised that the Marines would allow that plane to be launched in such a compromised condition. There were many times when my own aircraft had major issues so it was grounded till such time that it could be fully repaired properly. If they didn't have the properly trained people at the bases in question then they should have flown qualified mechanics with the proper repair parts over so that this kind of thing wouldn't happen. The major problem with accidents like this is that there are many, many factors to make this kind of thing a perfect storm of sorts. And sadly way too many folks lost their lives because of it. And on top of that? This collision was absolutely avoidable!
Crazy how a highly maneuverable fighter wasn’t able to avoid the airliner in time. Hindsight is 20/20, but those things can descend over 1500 feet in a single second if cabin pressure is lost or they’re in a dogfight or w/e situation. They must of not spotted the plane until they had milliseconds to react.
Things like this perhaps only happening once in the whole earth life. How the jet have problem that day, how DC on flight that time, the jet pilot didn't use ground service, how they choose the same altitude and crossing path at that same time.
1000 other incidents where they missed each other by a mile are not documented. Your message is based on a kind of gamblers fallacy or something. We only know about this one because a rare set of circumstances did end up badly.
@@pandabear-k7e You know, Jet Fighter supposed to be able avoid fast AA missile & detect enemy far far away. But their radar & radio are kaput, oxygen leaking so they cannot fly higher, weather not helping and it's happen at dusk where human eyes on it's weakest condition. The superior give permission to fly despite everything, the speed of their flight. Flight 706 is a fix flight, but everything that happen on the Jet lead to that point. This is like Final Destination plot.
I read the official report on this one. The attempted rescue was extremely difficult as the crash site was very steep & mountainous - far from roads. Much wreckage was left behind as is common in remote crashes.
@@patrickthrush8793 Think not of superior altutude but steepness & ruggedness of terrain - it was said the wreckage was scattered over hills nobody had tread upon for decades.
In the late '90's and early 2000's, my brother was an Air Force maintenance crew chief for the V22 Osprey. At the time, the Osprey was a prototype airframe and was undergoing a long (many years) period of testing and debugging. At one point during my brother's second tour of duty, a Marine Corps Colonel showed up his airbase to personally oversee some of the ongoing flight trials. This Marine colonel had a hand-picked section of Marines (fully geared) in tow and demanded a flight on the Osprey with his Marines. The Air Force officer in charge was a bit apprehensive, as the aircraft was still considered experimental, but didn't want to fight with a Marine Colonel, and decided to okay the flight. The colonel then demanded that an Air Force crew chief also be on-board to oversee the flight and to answer questions and explain technical details to him. The Air Force officer requested that my brother accompany the Marines on the flight, but my brother refused. My bro had intimate knowledge of the risks involved in flying an experimental aircraft and he also had been recently married and had a baby girl to think about and made the decision to refuse the flight. A bit of background - My brother began his career in the Air Force learning how to maintain the Blackhawk general utility helicopter and when asked to work on the experimental V22, he had agreed to work on that project with the understanding that he would never be asked to fly on an experimental airframe (he valued his life quite highly). The Air Force officer then told the Marine colonel that he could not order my brother to fly on the V22 and the colonel exploded in rage and tried to verbally brow-beat him with threats to force him onto the aircraft. My brother told him he could "throw him in the brig, but he would never set foot on any experimental aircraft, as at that time, the V22 had only been cleared to fly with a pilot and copilot - no crew. After many threats and a stubborn refusal by my bro to fly, the Marine colonel finally gave up and ordered his section of Marines onto the Osprey. My brother watched from the tarmac as they flew over the desert and out of sight. A couple of hours later, my brother heard that the Osprey had suffered some sort of engine failure and had crashed, killing everyone on board. After 25 years of service, my brother retired from the Air Force, but when the subject comes up, he still visibly shakes in anger at that Marine colonel's arrogance - A hubris which got himself killed, along with a squad of young Marines.
You really have to think about the passengers in the DC-9; when the cockpit section of the plane was literally sliced off the passengers were basically in a hollow tube with the front end wide open with tornado-force winds blowing in their faces and a wide-open view of the ground thousands of feet below them as they fell. That's the stuff that nightmares are made of!
just imagine the dc 9 pilot in there with the nose sliced off plunging down rolling falling like a rock
Hi Steve I was 11 yrs old on Sunday June 6th 1971 the time was 6:18 pm my father was playing ball with me in our driveway in Azusa california we had been watching the fighter jet doing manuvers it went into a roll ad my father three me the ball I looked back to see it and it was in kind of a flutter type motion and went behind the mountain mt bliss the dc 9 tumbled down on top of my bliss and u could see it very clearly from our house in Azusa there were 2 shock waves that shook the entire area I remember the pressure of it some minutes after the only survivor RDO parachute down on fish canyon I can tell you that the planes hit so hard all Passengers probly never knew it that was a terrible accident that I think about most every day for over 50yrs accross fish canyon there is a park at the base of the mountain they shut it down and put up a big yellow tent I remember seeing them takeing body bags
It is unlikely anyone was conscious after the impact, and at an altitude of 1550, they would have hit the ground which was 3,000' where they hit, within 12 seconds. (It usually takes about 5 seconds for each 1000 feet). So from impact at 1550', in 5 seconds they would have enough oxygen to breathe at 10,000' but I doubt anyone was conscious; it had to be an astounding impact which probably knocked people out, but if someone was awake, they would have hardly had time to wonder "what was that" before impact. Sad situation for all involved. RIP to all 50 souls.
@@brentroussin6777 what an event to witness as a child let alone at all, I couldn’t even imagine
Wouldn’t the planes at that height have sudden and explosive decompression? Especially the passenger plane. I doubt they had time to process much of anything.
I couldn't even imagine how it feels to be the only survivor in air collision. Probably PTSD till the end of life
37 likes in one hour? Nice. Tragic, but ...
And knowing your ejection prevented the pilot from getting out...
Full retirement benefits though.
he wasnt the one piloting i think he would be fine
@@RoseUnseen He might have suffered survivor’s guilt.
I saw the airliner in flames right after the collision. I was a senior in HS in Alhambra, CA. I was on a family hike in the San Gabrial mountains, and I happened to look up. I saw the airliner in the distance, with a tail of flames longer than the jet, and I saw it silently decending and dissappear over the next ridge. It was so strange to see it and know they were going to crash and die. The next day the crash was on the front page of the papers. So sad.
Wow! That's crazy. I lived near and airport for a couple of year( smaller one) and I was paranoid of seeing the same thing. 20 years back a plane did crash trying to land there. Went right off the runway and into a shopping center. Griffin Ga
Especially when what you were seeing was unable to be heard. It sounds surreal. What a disgraceful incident to cause this. It wasn't an accident so much as a series of bullshit from the Marine side that lead them to gung ho their way through, with fatal consequences. I wonder what the lone survivor Christopher Schiess, thinks of all this now, assuming he's still alive?
@@SueMead he's probably very regretful and traumatized considering he probably didn't have much say in the matter
Wow! Could U hear the sound of the collision? My father was a Marine F-4 pilot in the ‘70’s who had a crash landing in one. He often flew in & out of El Toro.
Wow. Thanks for sharing. There were probably not many eyewitnesses. I was thirteen and happened to be in the phone booth at my school in Arcadia. I remember hearing/feeling two different "booms". They were less than a few seconds apart, so I'm left wondering if the second shock was an aircraft hitting the ground (not likely) or if it was just a second shockwave due to the collision.
I remember that day. My family lived in Monrovia, just about 20 miles S.W. of the crash site. My dad and I were outside and heard a loud BOOM and several smaller booms followed several seconds later by a really loud explosion but didn't realize what the the cause was. A few minutes later a large 4 engine gray Military plane flew over our house headed N.E. at about 3-4 thousand feet. My Dad had gone back inside our House and came outside a few minutes later to say that what we heard was 2 airplanes colliding and crashing up near Fish Canyon. A friend of mine was at the San Gabriel Gun Range that day and saw the Passenger plane crash. He said everybody looked up when they heard the loud boom and saw the Passenger plane and many small pieces falling from the sky. Sad Day.
Wow… I used to go to San Gabriel Valley Gun Club (aka “Fish Canyon”) and I work in Monrovia on Myrtle.
I know where that took place but I was a child when that happened. So sad.
lies you were not even born
When you said Monrovia, I thought you meant the capital of Liberia😅
I remember hearing this collision in our backyard having a family bbq. We thought it was a sonic boom. We used to hear those before they basically outlawed them near populated areas. I was ten years old at the time.
F-4: Nothing is working on the plane, we can barely fly
F-4: ...
F-4: Anyways, let's proceed to the destination
That is daily life for US military aviation, especially the marine corps. A large % of our aircraft are behind in maintenance
His superior was probably thinking, "my guys can fly anything" 🤔
@@LoneWolfRanging There should have been a preflight check of navagation equipment, and failing equipment replaced.If no replacement oe fix was available, the plane should have been grounded until equipment was fixed.
That’s what I don’t understan
@@LoneWolfRanging That's crazy! Talk about flying by the seat of your pants!
Wtf. The pilot's ejection seat did not work because the radar person ejected first. What a major flaw.
Good ole McDonnell-Douglas. Design flaws were their thing.
@@dezznutz3743 because Boeing acquired Douglas, their Boeing 737max started having serious problems wrt MCAS
It is strange. Rear seat command initiated ejections with front seat automatically selected as secondary ejection had been successfully used previously on other aircraft. I will have to research and see if I can find a detailed description of the deficency in that F4 model.
That is the way it is supposed to work, the rear seat has to fire first and eject first or the rocket motor of the front seat will burn the back seater and cause sever injuries. the difference is 3/4 second between the two. the F-4 has a 00 seat (zero zero) meaning it will shoot the person up 750 feet. The seat rockets are very powerful.
the plane looked liked a failed one
I was JUST thinking, I need a new Flight Channel video to watch! And here it is. This crash seems to be absolutely the Marine’s responsibility. Flying an aircraft with all those faults is so crazy. And although the people who died can never be replaced, I hope the families were well compensated for their losses. RIP.
Great job on the video!
None of the stated faults affected how the plane flew, they could've made it to El Toro no problem if they didn't run into the only other plane in the sky. What are the odds?
They should have flown another bird up from El Toro to escort them and provide early warning. That happens more than you'd think also.
@@x-man5056 being stupid and criminally negligent is not an excuse, it's a reason to prosecute. The Marines should have stayed below 10k because they did not have oxygen. Being oxygen deprived may have affected their judgement and action, they should have known better. That far out from the airport, the DC9 would have been above 10k as is known by the altitude they were flying or climbing out of at the time of the incident.
@@davidkeeton6716 Your oxygen theory has merit but there was no evidence offered that the pilot was suffering from hypoxia. They did say that the marine pilot did attempt a last moment maneuver though so that at least would indicate he was conscious.
The root cause IS pilot error but it was the decision to fly. We saw some person's of unknown expertise interpretation of some record some where. Maybe it was someone related to someone who was killed and was bias. Can't be too definitive about details until you know them and we all know what's in the details. And I don't think the Marines would be to forthcoming of a request to see the official record. Just a hunch. Should be public record though. NTSB or FAA maybe.
@Brad James Might have helped, might not. Still unclear whether it was a legal requirement.
Transponders of the early 70's weren't much. ATC would have to have done all the math and cautioned or redirected one of the aircraft. A transponder wouldn't have given warning directly to the airliner, only to ATC but they would have to see it and be curious enough to do the calculations all while babysitting God knows how many other aircraft in that area.
@@x-man5056 , thank goodness, at least all these computations are now done quickly by a computer, and every active transponder signal in the area can be seen on each airborne aircraft these days. I'm so glad that the technology has greatly advanced since this tragedy.
Never would have thought I would see the name of my hometown and names of my relatives’ hometowns mentioned in one of these videos. It is a very insignificant piece of info, but it demonstrates the creator’s thorough research and dedication to accurate and complete storytelling. Very well done. This is why I continue to watch these animations.
That F4 should never have left the ground.
I agree 100% bad radar in a supersonic aircraft flying VFR is only asking for trouble in a congested airspace! IMHO and bad oxygen system would ground my jets in my day!
You can't change the past, but you can change the future. Stop living in the past!
@@eclipse_wolf1245 It;s still relavant today
@@eclipse_wolf1245 They thrive off of seeing people die. That's why they don't have ejection seats in passenger airliners. They love it. Sick on a whole nother level
@@Gizamalukeix wtf are you on looooool it’d be impossible to put ejection seats for all passengers and if they did manage it the aircraft would be stupid expensive get your fucking crazy conspiracies out your head
That F-4b had no right to be in the sky. 100% the fault of the people who sent that plane into the air. For the NTSB to somehow even suggest the DC-9s crew was at fault is a travesty that should be corrected.
It is ridiculous to bring up See and Avoid in this situation. None of us could possibly see a 400-knot Phantom in time. Unbelievable that the CO told them to fly without a transponder or oxygen - let alone into the LAX TCA. Today there would be multiple violations for that but who knows in 1971.
Yes that is true
Not unusual to fly without oxygen on a training cross-country flight. Just have to mind your altitude. Pilots, even on combat sorties, would frequently shut off oxygen and smoke a damn cigarette in flight. I know, cleaned many a butt out of cockpits.
@@x-man5056 unbelievable.
@@sk61181 Yup, but not unusual at all in those days.
PIC took the plane up in a non-airworthy condition.
"Oh, you just need to see and avoid the other airplanes traveling at hundreds of miles an hour. Easy peasy."
Edit: I guess I have to mention that this comment was sarcastic, it was supposed to mock the stupidity of VFR
yeahhhhh........
Why they shouldn't have been without a transponder.
Would be easier if flying a Sopwith Camel or an SE-5. Or, perhaps, a SPAD-19.
@@ABQSkywatcher Indeed. I wonder if their radar went all the way out during the flight. Even modest warning would've been enough to avoid the airliner.
That's actually what they're supposed to do, keep their heads on a constant swivel in the event of an instrument failure
How careless/reckless is the Marine Corps to fly broken planes so many times in the 2 days prior to this collision? This is the USMC’s fault all the way. Unbelievable.
I totally agree
agree..........showing off has a price......in this case, a very hefty one.
Well, your conclusion is incorrect. Airplanes fly EVERYDAY in degraded mode…..even airliners. He was VFR, 250 kts , below 18,000 and was not in an airspace requiring two way communication. He was legal. Occasionally, the big sky little airplane theory isn’t favorable.
@@driver4011 “Showing off” had no part in this collision.
i remember being addicted to these like 2 years ago. So glad i came back.
I actually saw this collision or more specifically several seconds after, while the flaming planes were spinning into the mountains. At the time my family lived in Azusa CA. I was about 10 years old. I was walking out the front door of our home and heard a large explosion, I looked towards the mountains and saw both planes on fire spinning into the mountains.
Must have been a really terrible experience.
Nah
I can't imagine!! ☹️ Sorry you had to witness this tragedy.
So now how old are you i think verry old
@@lyzadontn1686 60 something i guess @R B
I always find it crazy how time in small margins can make such a difference in life, imagine the f-4 pilot decided to go for a piss before takeoff and this wouldn’t have happened, or maybe he did go for a piss and then it did happen
Or took a piss and crashed into a bigger plane with more people. The way the military was, this looked like it was going to happen at some point. Terrible no one got punished.
I try to remember that when I'm (rarely) stuck in traffic. Maybe this delay will keep me out of an accident later (or cause me to be in one).
He really only needed to change about 5 seconds.....if that! If he had flown his jet one mile an hour faster or slower.... or took 30 seconds to say the, "Lord's Prayer" before he left. That prayer would have saved his life!
I think of those things all the time" the enormous amount of little things when if changed just the slightest bit, things may not have happened as they did, if one of the pilots would have been asleep 10-20 seconds longer that morning, this may not have happened😉
@@andrewnorris5415 One did get punished. He's dead.
This military airplane was flying in quite deplorable conditions, as there were simultaneous faults in oxygen delivery, radar (in an interceptor aircraft!) and transponder. I am not able to know if the collision could be avoided, but it is sad that an interceptor was not able to see a large airplane like a DC-9 that was approaching in time
Radio was also not working.
True. Having spent 6 years in F-4 squadrons and 2 in a Harrier squadron, I can tell you that this F-4 would not have been allowed to fly. But a couple of points are relevant -- the radar is not considered a safety of flight item on this type of flight (ironically, the one thing that might have saved them). But the radios and the oxygen would have kept the bird on the ground. Who knows what the pressures were to get to El Toro during the Vietnam war.
How could they not have descended? Even with five seconds notice would have made such a difference as the DC- 9 could not of been descending below 15,000 and the Phantom was at 15,500 ..I just do not get this?
The Phantom is so responsive so the DC-9 would of had to have been descending simultaneously..
@@aldenunion the simulation is not completely representative of reality. It's likely they didn't have visual until too late and were traveling much faster than depicted here, which is multiple angles and different perspectives
@@pkop4 Yes,I figured that after commenting...
Perspective up in the air is crazy and fast , wind sheer could even create a suction effect.
Even with doing the 360 manuever to view,by the time he equalized for evasiveness,to fast approaching.
No matter how qualified, experienced, sometimes every factor is against..Terrible luck..Salute.
That final shot of the F4 banking away as the music builds 11:53 is so well done. Yet another perfect video
The Flight Channel is one of the finest channels on TH-cam hands down!!! Extremely realistic and based on facts. Whoever makes these videos I give you a standing ovation!!! Who else thinks TheFlight Channel is the BEST ON TH-cam??? I DO!!!
In my opinion, the F-4 should have been grounded at NAS Fallon.
I think all the dead people would strongly agree with that including the families . I hope they sued the crap out off the military for that mildly put...blunder .
F4 is the intensiry of a HUrricand. You are on teh wrong channel!
That wasn't going to happen
@ROBSHOTZ
Exactly the commander should have refused to let it fly since it's pretty clear there was no critical reason for it to continue from what we know.
I agree. It shouldn’t have been allowed to fly.
Should of jailed their commanding officer who allowed those marines to fly.
"Should of..."?
@@generalyellor2187 Article 95 UCMJ: 'Dereliction of duty." In the civilian world malpractice is a civil issue. In the military it's a criminal offense. I suspect that several officers resigned their commissions rather than face a courts-martial.
Should have
The FAA did not go against the military.
@J M Thanks for the backup JM 😂
That F4 should have been grounded until repairs were made.
But where they asked for repairs allegedly the base couldn’t repair it. But also because the military and civil radars weren’t collaborating
@@matt_v_photo Shouldn't have flown then.
@@urbanmidnight1 You are thinking like a pilot. If something doesn't look right, feel right, or smell right during a preflight inspection by the pilot, the flight is scrubbed...no matter who says differently. A reprimand for not following orders is much preferred to death.
@@Robnord1 That's it, that's all!!!
You gotta love the Monday morning quarterbacks in the comments section.
“Here’s one they just made up...Near Miss... when two plans almost collide they call it a near miss...ITS A NEAR HIT...a collision is a near miss...BOOM...look they nearly missed”- George Carlin
True! The world lost a great comedian/satirist. Love George Carlin and his "work"! Miss him!
I remember that bit by Carlin and thought that's where you got it before I saw you quote him.
@@aerlial360 One Of The Greats,and one of my favorite bits by him...”get on the plane,get on the plane...I say fuck you I’m getting in the plane,in the plane...let Evil Knievel get on the plane”
“Near” in the sense of “close”. Not in the sense of “almost”
@@tomfinn6579 thank yoooou
I will never forget the sound of this crash. I lived a few miles away from the accident and was outside in the pool when it happened. Being so young my friend and I thought it was neighbors who habitually lit off really loud fireworks,lighting off a louder then usual one. Another sad accident that could have been avoided .
You can tell how much work is put into this videos! Honestly you always do such an amazing job!
Dang, your editing skills are getting better and better! Stay safe out there, man!
Actually, it’s still the same, there are no improvements.
@@Waddle_Dee_With_Internet whatever kid
@@TiffMcGiff so as you
Thanks I work hard on it
@@Waddle_Dee_With_Internet glad your spreading your positivity
I can't believe the Jarheads let these guys fly the plane period in the condition it was in. This is totally the fault of the USMC. The plane should have been grounded until the proper repairs could have been performed. If it was so necessary that these two guys be brought back to El Torro, then they damn well should've put them on the next MAC flight out. Stupid cost cutting.
Maybe inadequate funding.
@@xtbum3339 nah, the Marines are a buncha freaking cheapskates. It was so much worse back then. They annoyed the piss out of the Navy, too, on the carriers. Still do.
We were fighting a war at the time.
Well the Vietnam war was still happening and the Cold War in it's entirety was still ongoing, the military's of the world had a lot of equipment to handle back then and inevitably corners are cut to save time and money, especially when a war could break out in any minute and simultaneously end in less than 24 hours as the Nuclear Warheads take flight.
The fact that there were so many failures on this plane alone makes one wonder what fraction of the planes were actually in airworthy condition at the time? Would any civilian flight be permitted to take off with multiple system failures known about prior to the flight? I doubt it.
I was playing with my friends on Deerlane in Duarte, CA when we heard a boom. I never saw the Marine Jet, but saw the Airliner just kind of falling level and down in to the area above Van Tassel Canyon and Bliss. The next few weeks were horrific in that part or Duarte.
woah i’m an 18 year old who grew up on Conata literally down the street who’s fascinated with aviation
I was three when this crash occurred. My family moved onto Fieldview (intersected by Deerlane to the north and Conata to the south) in 1977. I don't remember anyone talking about this crash while I was growing up. I hiked all over the surrounding mountains, including one hike to Mt. Bliss.
I was at a friends house in Bradbury, a small community above Duarte, and witnessed the immediate aftermath as the planes broke apart and plummeted to the ground. Never will forget!
Can you imagine how the pilots would have felt after seeing they have been torn away from the rest of the aircraft. If that was me the hopelessness would would have been unspeakable.
There is no more feelings under the wind speed and falling only mind left talking about die die die
I woud like to see an Animation, to Imagine what happens after Crash
Okay I found th-cam.com/video/1u91ajX9MEw/w-d-xo.html
@@31stoffl Thanks for posting the simulation. What a horrific crash.
@@hardychip3736 ...if that were true then why practice any safety? If you’re time is up it’s up? Drunk driving? High speeds? No one can prevent their own deaths?
That certainly puts everything into perspective, especially those of us unfamiliar with aviation. My sympathies to the surviving family members and friends for this avoidable incident. Incredible footage that looks so real I became dizzy and nauseas.
The word is nauseated. Not nauseas. That is NOT a word.
The word is nauseated. Not nauseas. That is NOT a word.
@@lisamarieashby2523 "Nauseous" is what they meant, as well you know.
I was 9 years old and remember my father coming home very distressed, not so much angry, but shocked at that time only knowing that they had lost one of There's. He had been with the airline since 56 under numerous names West Coast, Air West, and most recently Hughes Air West since Howard and the SUMA Corporation had purchased it. It had been so recent the aircraft has not yet been repainted Bannana Yellow. My father had numerous hours in this plane and knew the flight crew. He was just angry at the needless waste of good people and passengers, and the reality sinking in that this could have just as easily happened to him and his flight crew and passenger.
Was your dad also a pilot, or flight engineer etc?
@Aquardis i don't get why people always call made up, i would think the likeliness of people with stories about these events that affected their lives in some way or another wouldn't be low for them to look up a video about it on youtube and add their perspective to it, it's not like a lot of random people got shown a video without searching for it and a ton just happened to have a story about it, it's a pretty controlled group, different than like kids saying their great grandpa survived the titanic or something
One of our main r44s at our flight school crashed because of maintenance/weight overloading and was fatal to the pilot and passengers, I remember flying and riding in it with my family. Pretty terrifying but that's what happens in aviation.
Your channel editing and the stories are second to none. You have put one hell of a lot of work in and this pays off. ust had to say :)
In 1971 I was 10 years old when this happened. My father worked for an aerospace company on irwindale Ave in Azusa. They had some empty building space and the NTSB brought the remnants of the DC-9 to their building to reconstruct what they could of the aircraft to figure out what happened. Do not remember if the Phantom was brought there as well. For a 10 year old who went to work with his dad on the weekends, this was vision I will always remember. My father was a pilot with many hours of flight time as well. I remember the talk about all the issues the phantom had and it should have been put out of operation.
IFF, radio and radar all inoperative, what could go wrong? Obviously there is more to this story than the clip shows but in my days in Naval Aviation in the late 70's, this cross country flight would have never left the ground until these gripes were cleared.
Well, that’s probably because of this flight.
That's why in my opinion, no aircraft should be allowed to fly with any of these systems if they are inoperative.
I left the Navy in 2016 as an AW1. What you said never changed. Certain flights would never be authorized in even half of these conditions presented here.
this acceident hurted me a lot, just imagining yourself being in that senario at that moment make you almost cry.
Thanks tho TheFlightChannel for making amazing videos !
Classic Marine hand-me-down equipment. At the end of its service life, in terrible quality, and barely functioning.
20 likes in one hour...
Yeah sounds about right , and you best believe if pilot survived he would of got a ass chewing for crashing it too even though it wasn’t his fault , oh how I love the corps
@@akidim13 F4 was not "old" in 1971 atc has also changed allot, how they operate, many many accidents happened in the 70s, only real comment here is that it was a tragedy,.. i would suggest that if anyone is interested their is a full documentary on this accudent as well, today we have tcas, in those days, see and avoid,...too sad, their is a control to decide who has command control for the ejection sequence, in the F4,..
@@ae1tpa92gwtom2 what’s the documentary called?
In 1971, the Vietnam War was still raging and those directly involved were give priority on parts, equipment, maintenance, and personnel. This was especially hard on the USMC because it is a smaller force so received less money. Back in the USA, existing combat aircrafts were pushed to the limits for training and maintenance suffered. The pressure of the Vietnam War meant that aircrafts were allowed to fly that should have been grounded in order to fulfill the mission to ready aircrews for Vietnam.
I remember having a similar ALMOST accident in 2005. My grade was heading to D.C. for the 8th grade D.C. trip. We had left O'Hare at about 7 or 8 in the morning and weren't arriving at Richmond Airport until almost 10ish in the morning. We had about 30 minutes before landing was even in sight. It was a beautiful crisp November morning w/ little fog and low clouds. I wake up to the sun in my eyes to my right. I had a C seat next the wing and window view. Some time goes by and I'm sight seeing. I can hear the our engines in my ear. I suddenly hear the noise of another plane and it's getting louder and louder. When you've been around enough planes in your life, you'll know the difference between a United set of 4 turbo engines and an F-14/F-16 super sonic engine. I look out my window and see nothing for a few minutes. Then I start seeing a fuel tail and a plane headed straight for us. I'm trying to see what kind of plane and realize it's a fighter plane. I'm thinking, "This isn't happening...." and I keep my eyes on it thee entire time. When it disappears, I check to see where it had gone and sure shit we just missed it.... Luckily, the fighter plane had been going about 30 knots faster than us, because I then later saw it out multiple windows across from me flying by. As we approached it's jet stream, I could see in full detail thee entire plane. I literally couldn't believe it. Both of our planes were at the same altitude where we were both window level of one another.
If we had been going 5 knots faster, we both would have hit one another head on. If we had been going 15-30 knots faster, the fighter plane would have split the plane in two at dead center and we would have blown up in the sky.....
Definitely, grateful to be alive.....
That's crazy. Did the airline or FAA offer any explanation for the near collision?
Content such as this reminds me of a simple yet frightening truth: assumptions can be deadly. Military pilots assuming their flight path -- descending and ascending patterns at will, in one of the busiest areas for aircraft , without any ATC involvement nor informing ATC of their inadequacies -- and the senior officer who approved them to fly through that space without transponder and radar literally as inept as could be. It's always cool seeing fighter jets taking off and when in the air but videos like this drive home the dangers of being in a plane anywhere near or not so near one of them. This video btw is superb. So much detail to provide which could not have been done better.
Yelp
True
We can conclude that the superior militaries who permitted that shit were "out of reach" by the law.
Us military corruption at its finest
@@munapulido9054 I don't believe it was corruption as much as it was incompetence. I served for 21 years in the USAF and have read numerous accident reports. In nearly all of them, there were a series of mistakes that attributed to the accident. An aircraft with no transponder, no radar and a problem with the oxygen, should have never been cleared to fly. On top of all this, the malfunction in the ejection system killed the pilot.
@@alanhess9306 it’s not that it’s that the superiors are at fault but don’t get punished for it
@@munapulido9054 I'm not exactly sure what you are saying. As far as maintenance goes, the top of the chain of command is ultimately responsible but shit flows downhill, to the maintenance people. And yes, someone will be held responsible. I witnessed an aircraft crash because the wing folds were not locked down. The pilots who did not catch it during the walk-around were relieved of flying duties. The crew chief ended up working in the tool crib. The careers of all involved suffered.
@A E you’d think we their budget that was true yet it’s not
I have been asking for this one for 3 years!!
Yea i was hoping he would do this too
@@dykuizhen Ditto.
The editing is amazing man keep up the great work
I have to say I hope you see this your page is amazing. The amount of detail into each video is incredible to the point I actually want to learn how to fly now. One of the best channels on TH-cam no doubt.
Whenever I watch these videos I always think that it could be me as well. When we onboard we never think about any mishappening but it is possible that it would be our last day. and when I think about that I think that how our life is so fragile.
and how we are dealing with it? with grief? with sadness? with guilt? We don't know when we'll die.. may be from our mistakes or from someone else mistake or may be nobody mistake.
So, live your life till your last breath.. spread love.. peace... care for others.. because you never know what is next.
In the investigation onto DC-9 the CVR was destroyed in fire but FDR was intact and survived
He already explains it all in the video
20 likes in one hour...
@@ethanxinq ik
@@ashemgold yes lmao
I was ur 69th like :)
It's so hard for me to comprehend how two aircraft collides in a wide open space!!! I feel so bad for the passengers that died.
That is the trick. Spaces are not so open in a space filled with airplanes. It is like crossing a highway on foot, but in 3D. The idea of open comes from not seeing a plane and suddenly it is on you. Try to play air traffic controller (ATC) games and you will see.
@@josepablolunasanchez1283 damn bro. i never heard anyone explain that situation so accuratly
@@limesoda7426 Basically Frogger in 3D. Anyway, it is easier just to pull down the stick instead of trying to turn.
Search video "star wars bruno". In the description there is a link to the installer. You may practice evading full of adrenaline. Fan made game.
@@josepablolunasanchez1283 i tried it out, its cool. thx bro
@@limesoda7426 This is one of my favorite arcade games. I love adrenaline piloting (for games, of course, in real world I drive like a grandpa). "Battletech fan" channel has Mechwarrior 2 trilogy installation guides. Links in the description have everything you need. That is full of adrenaline too. It is a retro game about giant robot combat. You may like it too. The channel also has a visual guide for the tabletop version of the game. It started as tabletop game in 1984.
This one is always painful to think about.
The quality of this training video is incredible. Thank you for taking the time to make it.
OMG. I forgot all about this! I was 8 years old living in Glendora. All the windows in the house shook with a distinctive B-Boom Clap-clap! It really scook us all up. My dad somehow knew it was a midair collision, he kept saying that. After about an hour KNX news reported it. I was very neourvious because we had a bad earthquake a few months earlier.
I find it shocking that a military aircraft should be allowed to fly with such faults.
THANK YOU BEEN WAITING A LONG TIME on this one !
Was just 7 when this tragic crash happened.
LOTS of safety enhancements resulted.
RIP to all who were lost.
Great quality as alwaysss
Only discovered this channel last night... Now I can't stop watching these videos!!
Our family was at El Toro for the annual air show that day, and I remember this fighter squadron being based there. We had no idea an F4 from the air station had collided with an airliner until later when the news reports started coming in.
This is a horrible way to die. Feel sorry for everyone who lost their lives.
Much better then most suffering Parkinson's or cancer.
That's okay. It's in the past. The good thing is that whatever happens, we don't lose. We learn😘❤️👍🙏
Isn’t this a sim!?
Esp for all those onboard the commercial aircraft
@@s.kirtivasen5752 It's hard to learn if blame and responsibility are apportioned in an inappropriate manner.
Imagine parachuting to the ground watching your partner crash 😳
and watching an entire plane with 49 people burn up in hte air too!
don't make me none.
Every man for themselves
They should interview the co pilot and get his story before he passes on, or maybe he has.
Should be worse watching a civilian jetliner full of people hurtling to the ground knowing fully well it's your damn fault.
0:00 That start to the video was exceptional. Unpredictable. And magical as always. Amazing job guys!
Thanks man, I really appreciate!
Thank you for this amazing film of this tragic incident. The graphics were fantastic. I am always moved by the music at the end of your films, which brings the sadness of the event to the human heart.
I remember as a kid hearing and feeling the accident in Monrovia. We had that big earthquake in the beginning of the year. It was extremely loud and the shock was felt on Myrtle Ave. It’s still surreal to this day...
Nicely done TFC! Tragic event 50th anniversary this year. RIP to all the victims.
Good job in adding maps to show the routes of the aircrafts!
It does seem incredible that in all that open space, aircraft still crash in flight. Scary!
I had just graduated from college, and was walking home to my parent's house in Duarte from the Alpha Beta store when I heard a distant explosion. Looking east, I saw something plummet straight down from the sky. After dropping off my groceries, I drove to the Fish Canyon area of Duarte only to find that the roads had been blocked off by police cars. I returned home, turned on the TV and learned that it had been an in-flight crash between a commercial passenger jet and a military aircraft. Later, there were rumors that the military jet had been doing a victory roll just prior to the collision, but it was subsequently judged to be an evasive maneuver by the pilot. God save the souls of those who perished.
I was 8 years old and my father was a Captain on the DC-9 with Air-West and had flown this aircraft on numerous occasions. He came home from a trip the night this had happened and I just remember him talking in hushed voices with my mom and calling numerous other pilots and discussing it. I was shielded from knowing what had happened, but at eight was the first time I realized that mom and dad's didn't always come home safe trips every time.
Dude, you've got some amazing production quality. Good job.
Agreed
Amazing that this video was just released yesterday and already has over 360,000 views! Proof that TheFlightChannel has a lot of dedicated subscribers... 🏆👍
I was a controller in that exact sector at L.A. Center (sector 18, 118.55) for almost 9 years before I found out about this accident. Nobody ever talked about it, probably because the controller working that day must have been hugely traumatized that he hadn't noticed the raw radar primary target of the F4 (if there even was one), and others in the facility may have thought it was a partial failure of ATC as a result. The radar back then though was broadband analog so didn't show histories that make it easier to detect moving objects, instead they were just pulsing blips every 12 seconds and there was always so much ground clutter in that area from the mountains (buildings and trucks at high elevation all showed up, maybe around fifty random blips in that sector alone every single radar sweep). Just really tough to see a small target like an F4 moving among all that ground clutter. Had it been maybe 50 miles to the north in the flat high desert, it probably would have stood out more to the controller and maybe this wouldn't have happened.
Only seconds to make decisions. While stationed at MCAS in 1964 and assigned to VMFA squadron I had the opportunity to get a back seat ride ( RIO ) in the F4. Have total respect for both the pilots and RIO`s, plane scares the hell out of you by just its power. Semper Fi
Ps. The ejection seats in 1964 were Martin Baker
Back in 1997 when I was 14. I was on a plane from London to canary Islands for a holiday. My first flight. Sat by window. And with a blink and miss it (so fast) moment, a fighter jet plane flew straight under our plane. Must have been 40 feet below max. My parents thought I was making it up as I guess these things "don't happen". Remember it as clear as day.
I don’t know much about fighter jets, but couldn’t the pilot just pitch down into a dive to avoid the DC? I guess it must’ve been seconds from when they noticed it to impact.
I imagine that at the speeds these aircraft fly, a few seconds is not enough time.
There was a collision in which the sharp pitching movement of one aircraft put its eppenage into the other aircraft. Remember the pitch axis is far ahead of the eppenage structure. Even with the turn and possible dive action the F-4's eppenage may still have ended up in the flight path of the DC9.
The F-4 Phantom was very fast at going strait, it didn't turn very well.
First rule of avoiding a crash is to steer to where the (Car, Plane, Boat) is now. It won't be there when you get there. If the motion in the simulation is accurate. The F-4 pilot is totally guilty.
@@proehm bro these arent gocarts or normal cars they are flying at 200~ m/s, and with all that thrust, turning a plane isn't really simple. You can hardly see a plane crossing, in fact you won't know you're in the flight paths, that's why radio towers are so crucial and why pilots check the flightpaths.
But yea u rite on with the logic it's just not applicable.
That F4ii should never of been in the air in that condition imo. RIP to the soles lost in this tragic incident.
Great video my friend I never knew about this one. A good friend of mine was a F-4 Phantom pilot, "the Major" as we called him. He said those planes were the best back then but he said they handled like a tractor. "The F-4 was very fast if you wanted to go in a strait line, not really good at maneuvering like if you needed to turn".
Yes, U.S. military Aviation had labored under the delusion that the missile made dogfighting obsolete, that air battles would just involve volleys of air/air missiles at Beyond visual range. So all U.S. military aircraft were designed to carry a lot of missiles at very high speed and to have a large powerful radar.
The F-4 was a brick with rockets for engines
When then the engines would start to tear themselves apart if you went full throttle
I once read the F-4 Phantom described as a big bus that could go very fast.
@@BMK500 Thant's what he used to say like it would shake the plane violently at full throttle you are spot on with my friend the "Major"
I love your recreations of these flying disasters. They are so well done and accurate. Thank you!
I wonder how long I’ve been watching plane crashes now? 6 hours? 12? Is it whole days now? I can’t stop.
new effects? Epic. Video? Legendary. I watched this on the Smithsonian channel. Cant deny the fact that this is way better
Love the quality
The F4 should not have been in the air. If the plane is broken, it shouldn't be flying.
They need to fly to their destination anyway because the airbase they in didn't have maintainece equipment
@@iliashamid8765 They could have flown the equipment to the other base instead, that fighter was is horrible condition and really unfit for flight.
@@iliashamid8765 so that made it ok to fly? Got it!
Very serious safety violations by the Marines. This squadron was in Vietnam in '69-'70 as I was part of the same airgroup. What is ironic, VMFA-314 was the Marines top rated fighter squadron in '69 and won several awards not only for highest readiness but, also safety...
II was a freshman in high school, when this happened.
I was standing in my front yard, talking with my across the street neighbor, when we heard a long "BOOM!", and then what sounded like echoes of the explosion. It was coming from the direction of Santa Anita canyon, which is just a couple of small canyons from where the crash happened.
There was a news bulletin that came in the TV, that said what happened. Just horrible.
I'm just amazed there is all that sky and they managed to run into each other. It's like a freeway how it manages to come to a standing stop amazing
Normally, the Phantom crew would have been flying much higher, above any commercial traffic where it's clear. But all the troubles (no 02) put them down on the deck. Shouldn't have been up there. Ditch the plane at NAS Fallon for repairs and take the bus to El Toro.
I wonder whether the USAF has ever apologized for killing a plane full of passengers cause of it's faulty fighter plane?
My goodness your videos are sooo good. My heart went through my arse when the first plane crashed. So realistic 👌
i hope everything is o.k. ..😬
I just came upon this video by chance and it’s horrifying. My cousin was one of the passengers on that plane. She was flying back to SLC after her sisters wedding the day before to pack up her dorm room at BYU before coming back home for the summer. She was such an amazing young woman that had so much to offer the world. I had just turned 8 a couple of days before and couldn’t wait for her to come home so I could go up to stay with her and my uncle and aunt. I absolutely adored her. It was devastating to our whole family. The original reports in 1971 said the Marine jet came up from underneath the DC9, thus making it impossible for the flight crew to see it and take evasive measures. The military never really took responsibility. I don’t believe they did anything for the families of the victims, some of whose remains were never recovered. I remember it like it was yesterday.
As a paraglider pilot, I was taken aback by the Radar Intercept officer 'parachuting' to safety.
Unbelievable, all that air space and they meet at exactly the same point.
The survivor of this crash named his son Douglas who is currently a Brigadier General in the Air Force.
It sure is a small world.
I'm thinking he probably struggled with "survivors guilt" throughout his life.
@@vikramgupta2326 nah he was sleeping good
Damn that was a rough one. Amazing how many contributing factors caused the accident.
No, just one: incompetent military.
@@lucdevincke2055 True. I was alluding to a more granular approach, but I'd also venture to suggest it was more arrogance than outright incompetence.
Like someone who gets behind the wheel drunk because "I've done it hundreds of times and nothing ever happened..."
It is called the chain of events. If you break one link in the chain then no accident. Former USMC pilot.
That shouldn't be able to happen by accident
@@jesseleblanc1199 The thing with any accident chain is that we only see the chain post incident. If the incident doesn't happen, no one looks for the chain. It's the reverse of Schrodinger's cat in a way. We know the outcome but we don't can't see the cause until we look for it.
Those F4s should not have been flying.
As a retired Air Force aircraft mechanic I must say that I'm very much surprised that the Marines would allow that plane to be launched in such a compromised condition. There were many times when my own aircraft had major issues so it was grounded till such time that it could be fully repaired properly. If they didn't have the properly trained people at the bases in question then they should have flown qualified mechanics with the proper repair parts over so that this kind of thing wouldn't happen. The major problem with accidents like this is that there are many, many factors to make this kind of thing a perfect storm of sorts. And sadly way too many folks lost their lives because of it. And on top of that? This collision was absolutely avoidable!
Crazy how a highly maneuverable fighter wasn’t able to avoid the airliner in time. Hindsight is 20/20, but those things can descend over 1500 feet in a single second if cabin pressure is lost or they’re in a dogfight or w/e situation. They must of not spotted the plane until they had milliseconds to react.
Great job as always!!
Thanks man!
@@theflightchannel also good video i love your co videos 👍👍👍
Things like this perhaps only happening once in the whole earth life. How the jet have problem that day, how DC on flight that time, the jet pilot didn't use ground service, how they choose the same altitude and crossing path at that same time.
27 likes in one hour...
Theres a "famous" one of a russian airliner with a DHL plane in 2002. Claimed the lives of them all, and massive butterfly effect situation.
@@iamadreamer7461 Überlingen midair collision
1000 other incidents where they missed each other by a mile are not documented. Your message is based on a kind of gamblers fallacy or something. We only know about this one because a rare set of circumstances did end up badly.
@@pandabear-k7e You know, Jet Fighter supposed to be able avoid fast AA missile & detect enemy far far away. But their radar & radio are kaput, oxygen leaking so they cannot fly higher, weather not helping and it's happen at dusk where human eyes on it's weakest condition. The superior give permission to fly despite everything, the speed of their flight. Flight 706 is a fix flight, but everything that happen on the Jet lead to that point. This is like Final Destination plot.
I read the official report on this one. The attempted rescue was extremely difficult as the crash site was very steep & mountainous - far from roads.
Much wreckage was left behind as is common in remote crashes.
I don't get it! its described like it was the Himalayas, were talking only 3000 feet of elevation!
@@patrickthrush8793
Think not of superior altutude but steepness & ruggedness of terrain - it was said the wreckage was scattered over hills nobody had tread upon for decades.
Recall too how in 1971 So Cal & LA were VERY undeveloped versus today.
@@psalm2forliberty577 yea back then I guess you are correct!
@@psalm2forliberty577 Indeed the good ol days!!
In the late '90's and early 2000's, my brother was an Air Force maintenance crew chief for the V22 Osprey. At the time, the Osprey was a prototype airframe and was undergoing a long (many years) period of testing and debugging. At one point during my brother's second tour of duty, a Marine Corps Colonel showed up his airbase to personally oversee some of the ongoing flight trials. This Marine colonel had a hand-picked section of Marines (fully geared) in tow and demanded a flight on the Osprey with his Marines. The Air Force officer in charge was a bit apprehensive, as the aircraft was still considered experimental, but didn't want to fight with a Marine Colonel, and decided to okay the flight. The colonel then demanded that an Air Force crew chief also be on-board to oversee the flight and to answer questions and explain technical details to him. The Air Force officer requested that my brother accompany the Marines on the flight, but my brother refused. My bro had intimate knowledge of the risks involved in flying an experimental aircraft and he also had been recently married and had a baby girl to think about and made the decision to refuse the flight. A bit of background - My brother began his career in the Air Force learning how to maintain the Blackhawk general utility helicopter and when asked to work on the experimental V22, he had agreed to work on that project with the understanding that he would never be asked to fly on an experimental airframe (he valued his life quite highly). The Air Force officer then told the Marine colonel that he could not order my brother to fly on the V22 and the colonel exploded in rage and tried to verbally brow-beat him with threats to force him onto the aircraft. My brother told him he could "throw him in the brig, but he would never set foot on any experimental aircraft, as at that time, the V22 had only been cleared to fly with a pilot and copilot - no crew. After many threats and a stubborn refusal by my bro to fly, the Marine colonel finally gave up and ordered his section of Marines onto the Osprey. My brother watched from the tarmac as they flew over the desert and out of sight. A couple of hours later, my brother heard that the Osprey had suffered some sort of engine failure and had crashed, killing everyone on board. After 25 years of service, my brother retired from the Air Force, but when the subject comes up, he still visibly shakes in anger at that Marine colonel's arrogance - A hubris which got himself killed, along with a squad of young Marines.
I really liked the video!!!
Shame on the marines for allowing that jet back in operation.
at least the jet is a legend-
100% on PIC
And how about the decision to allow the F-4 to fly with degraded systems? Well done video on going back earlier to see the timeline.
No one survived....the word I hate to see😭😭😭
yeah but if someone survived : 1. they would have been in very big pain 2 . they would problably wish they were dead
@@paulgabrielbruma6712 I would rather be in pain than dying
@@mimi-milkymulti_fandoms6735 Uh😳.....NO!
@@GlowingMpd why 😳
@@mimi-milkymulti_fandoms6735 🤷♀️
Just the sheer odds of two planes meeting in a lonely sky that started off hundreds of miles away...fate can be as ugly as it is beautiful
Videos are freaking awesome. Thank you!