My cousin, Ronnie, died on the playground that day. When we were finally allowed to leave the P.E. For some god-forsaken reason, my mother scooped me and a my baby brother up, and we headed for the sight of the explosion. Interesting you said Wollensak.I can still see the cover of that reel to reel tape and it was 3M. Regarding Valens friends: According to a remembrance of that day by a friend of Valens, the young singers best friend was one of the three students killed. I just checked it on my iPad and it played fine. I still watch El Encuentro now and then there is a lot of beauty in that work. Thank you for your kind words about dad. I have seen La Bamba a few times and its reference to this crash always makes me think about my roots again. Just a quick note, Russ. It was deafening. Nanci mentioned walking home from Beach Ave. elementary. I was in Drafting class next to the gymnasium and was knocked off my stool by the crash. He took his job very seriously. Small wonder, it sounds like it was a mini-Armageddon. For those who have nightmares, I have always called them chase dreams. I used to have a lot of them, especially during my Paramedic years. My brother Marvin and sister Delores were at the school and my sister was in the auditorium at the time of the crash. If anyone has any information on her they could share, we would be much obliged. I was in the 6th grade at Beachy Ave. For some reason I stopped running and put my head down on the back of the portable bleachers. I was in the 9th grade in the orchestra practicing in the auditorium when this happened. Did you live on OBeck or Oback??? It was a long time ago. Come to find out, with the exception of me, all were native Southern Californians. All of us at the fence line knew children were hurt and killed. We had a couple of ER Docs from Hoag Hospital at the scene. I was 9 yrs old and my brother was 11 yrs old, students at Canyon Elementary School, and my mother, Margaret Eck Carr, came to Canyon Elementary shortly after she heard the news on T.V. Ah, the good old days. I returned to Beachy at the very end of my sixth grade (following a semester at Lowman School for the Handicapped). Do not know which branch. And, second, several years later at a reunion, Richard Williams told me he saw me get hit in the head. Thank you, I was in kindergarten at Terra Bella School. An incredible bonding experience that lasted 50 years or more after graduation from high school. Oh my God this is something horrible, and i cannot even imageine the horror people who experienced the plane crash went through. Ill be back soon. Im always struck by how widespread the interest in Richie Valens continues to be so long after his death. Fire, kids screaming, people from the neighborhood filling the school yard, emergency vehicles trying to get in. The History Guy made a report of this crash recently (July, 2018): Hi, Dan yeah, I checked it out. Of course we didnt know what all had taken place until after we got home from school as communication in those days was nothing like today. He was not happy with my behavior. The news of the crash spread like wild fire through the school even though we were miles away. I hope your airplane nightmare hasnt returned. We mocked up an airliner fuselage out of wood and visqueen. I can only imagine the terror and bewilderment you and your classmates must have experienced in those moments. I was dripping, head to toe, from the oil and now walking with a limp rather than running. I saw one boy on fire. I lived on Obeck Ave (off Kagel, between Beachy and Canterbury) in what was originally called Pacoima, but later became Arleta for no apparent reason. Men were working on jets in different states of repair. Man, what a day! I remember that I left my classroom and ran around the building and into the field. Arleta/Pacoima will ALWAYS be my home. At the sound of the DC-7 during its high speed descent (a sound I will never forget and I can remember it vividly as though it happened yesterday), all of us students and the teacher rushed to the windows. Outside, we could see the carnage. My brother, Richard Bliven, was in the school yard when the plane crashed. Eight people were killed, including three students at Pacoima Junior High School. God bless all of those who had family that were involved. I remember that day too. The interest and response to this story and recording have been widespread, with apparently no age or national boundaries. I lived on the Easterly side of Beachy at the corner of Garber in the older houses that were there before all the tract houses were built. She checks the comments here from time to time and I know shell be glad to see these boys are still remembered. He seemed to like the attention and didnt appear bothered by it. Then my family went to Europe for a year and a half. We shared memories and that aroused my curiosity. Matt Davies Again. John 3:16 Hi, Jim Wollensak was the brand of recorder, not the tape. Looking backwards, connecting the dots, a very personal journey began on the morning of January 31st, 1957. He would have loved to hear that you remembered him as a darn good teacher over 50 years later. Terry Brown (916) 364 0440. On January 31, 1957, a Douglas DC-7B transport plane crashed into the school yard of Pacoima Junior High School, 9919 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, after colliding with a Northrop F-89J Scorpion jet trainer plane. What I saw Ill never forget. I havent heard about any reunion in the offing but its a good idea. Clearly this photo was taken a few weeks after the crash. I think I was about a year after you. In 2009 I was working as a behavioral specialist for the Summit County (Ohio) Juvenile Court. Howerver, I did not ask permission to go out and get it, I just ran out, grabbed it and was not in the gym side door but a few seconds when the plane crashed. Little fellow well, I suppose we all were little back then, but he was littler. It sounds like he was at the same place on the field as I was. Its right side engine and possibly wing was on fire. I was in the second grade at Strathern Street School in North Hollywood at the time of the crash. If your husband decides to listen to it, I hope it helps. Yeah, I liked him too. I am sure readers here will appreciate your familys story and the brave and loving actions of your mother on that day. Thats all there is to it. The noise was something out of a action movie. Its been a while since I was in the LA school system. Amy Wilentz The deadly consequences of the Biden administrations policy of no policy. Hi, Nicholas My husband was there that day and suffered burns and shrapnal (sp?) What caused the plane to break apart must have been due to extreme speed going down and turning in all directions. Im glad I was down, because there was an engine embedded in the asphalt 25 feet away in the same direction I was running. Thats all there is to it. I just listened again and he could very well be saying jet blast. At any rate, it sounds a lot closer to jet blast than it was just loud and I thank you for the correction. Though the San Fernando Valley was considerably less populated in 1957 than it is today, it was home to hundreds of thousands back then. I wondered if I actually saw the debris in the air, but now I believe I did. He came to the School right after the crash. You reminded me that my sister, who happened to be at the P.E. We were able to leave the classroom to go to the bathroom. It was a warm day and our teacher had both doors to the classroom open. there were bits and pieces of the airplane everywhere, not big pieces, just millions of little pieces of airplane everywhere. Coincidentally enough, your brothers chum, Richard Berger, wrote in to this blog two days after you did. Evan and I were in youth group together. My classroom rocked violently back and forth from the impact. Three students and . Hi Russ.who knows? You are providing a valuable piece of history to your childhood community. I dont know if the kids there ever heal completely. Our scenario was crop duster versus military troop transport. I still drive by the old neighborhood on my way to golf at Hansen Dam it still looks nice (the many new wrought iron fences around many front yards notwithstanding). As images of actual events are sometimes not available, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration. The most incredible image of all was the open window in the cockpit area with smoke coming out of it and what appeared to be the pilot with his head partially out. So no, I have no lasting fears of flying. I was not hurt. Very good question. The song was We Aint Got Nothing Yet. The plane was heading toward Pacoima Jr. High. Wow, I remember almost all the students names you mentioned Gates, Liff, Roberts and Maltz and all the teachers you named. We heard the noise going over us, in the direction of the Junior High. Wreckage was still on fire, strewn everywhere, having slammed into fences, backstops, basketball hoops, and, of course, children, who lay everywhere, burned and bleeding from gashes too grisly to comprehend. I do remember Brian OConnell and think I could find him some of the class pictures from Beachy. Thanks for your fascinating website, and for the chilling and haunting audio of the plane crash at Pacoima Junior High School. Ill tell her you said hello. Russ, Anyway, I may remember Nanci. Im glad I was able to provide a forum for a few of the witnesses and survivors. And i am also very shocked how people were not more clever at that time that they tested planes over areas that were populated, i mean its not like the technology was better before and yet they didnt seem to think further and let such things happend. At first it looked like one plane and its landing gear then as they got closer we could see it was two planes, then we saw the parachute. The auditorium doors can be heard slamming open from the concussion of the crash. It looked to me like what had happened was just on the other side of the houses across the street from the school. He also had a second profession as a movie actor. Of the many times I have related the story to people through the years, my most vivid recall has been of the line in Lindas commencement speech about having only one life to live. I also remember seeing ceiling tiles falling and hanging lamps swaying back and forth. I was just a baby living in Pacoima at the time on Cedros Ave. Having not heard of this terrible event until now, it makes me wonder if it was the incentive for my parents to move us away from Pacoima in 1958. Ill shoot you an email. Not to mention, the lifelong fear of flying that many witnesses have to this day. Were you old enough to grasp the enormity of what had happened? Since Id missed most of the 7th grade in Pacoima I had to start over in the 7th in Palmdale. By the way, I went to Pacoima a decade later and there was still lots of music going on. But strangely, that is all I remember. But that day seems indelibly etched into the brains of those who were there, including my sister and father. Soon after the crash, my dad was transferred to the California Air National Guard Base (196th Tactical Air Support Group) in Ontario. One of the guys (last name Mitchell)was on the Poly High football team I was on and was one of the kids injured on the PJH field that day. On January 31, 1957, a Douglas DC-7B transport plane crashed into the school yard of Pacoima Junior High School, 9919 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, after colliding with a Northrop F-89J Scorpion jet trainer plane. But now, thanks to Gary blanks filled. It was a closed room with only transom windows. He told me that hes not sure he wants to listen to the tape, but Ill bet he will. Pam, who had just finished Gym, was in the P.E. She said she thought the kids wouldve survived a disaster better than she would have. This is a bone chilling audio of a memory deep in my mind. The impact was deafening, followed by fire and thick smoke. The recording ended when the schools power went out. I suspect hydraulic lines were severed causing loss of control to flaps and the like. We didnt know if the plane parts had landed in the elementary school classrooms. Change). Children were running and screaming. It was an emotional event for me. My father was the pilot of the DC-7 and my parents had moved to the Pacific Palisades from La Canada two years prior to the crash. Later I remember waiting with my mom to find out if my brother, a student at Pacoima Jr. Hi, was OK. The comments here show how deeply etched that day is in so many peoples memories. I was told to leave and I started to run home. This scene was horrific seeing your classmates injured and scared. I am also very very happy that the interest for the story have been widespread, because i feel its only these childrens right to be remembered atleast since they passed away so early. I checked google maps and found that my cousin lived about 17 miles away from the crash. After the crash I was in the hospital for several months. Hey, Bob The post Can Elly Schlein Pull Italy to the Left? Adams injuries were not critical and he was able to eject. What an interesting turn of events. Someone from school had called my mom to see if I had run home. Thank you. Ill refer to to this site which Im sure she will find interesting. By the way, I have a feeling that this discussion will be going on until we are both shuffling down the streets of Leisure World, so your comment is by no means late.. At least, I hope so. Your lifetime discomfort with flying seems to be a common thread among many who were personally affected by the crash including your chum, Richie Valens. I was only five at the time and many blocks from the school. I lived on Obeck, which was situated between Terra Bella and Kagle Canyon (north-south) and Canterbury and Beachy (east-west) so I was pretty far from the school and dont remember hearing anything unusual. Thanks for writing and for having terrific ears. It has helped my recollection of the events on January 31,1957. Hi D.Miller Do you remember you room number? Hi Phyllis The post Dont Count Barbara Lee Out of the California Senate Race appeared first on The Nation. All I remember is the confetti-like pieces of metal floating down from the sky and later, when we returned to the house, my moms agitated state (my sister and dad were at the school). We lived only a few blocks from the school and my mother had been out hanging laundry. I lived over on Hadden Ave a little south of PJH. Yeah, I know what you mean about roots. From one Poly high alum to another, I really appreciate the thanks at your sign-off; I am now more convinced that posting this story/recording was a good thing to do. The tragic memories will be in my heart forever along with the great friends who suffered with injuries or lost family members. Thanks for all your memories and thoughts about tragic morning..it would nice if we could find a way to have get together to see how we have all grown up! I think this makes you my homey, Susan. Thanks again for sharing it and for sharing your familys experience. The post Does the Harvard Kennedy School Serve the Peopleor Power? Well, this plane crash was horrendous, I will never forget it, I remember parts of the plane landing in our backyard, I think I was walking home from Beachy Avenue Elementary School when it happened, about 2 blocks away at around 11 a.m. or so. Yeah, Ill bet that was a difficult sound to shake. Next there was dead silence in the classroom. Your brother, with his lifelong fear of flying, is not alone. Pretty amazing, considering that today that same brain cant even remember where it put its keys. Karen Bakken. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. The California Fire Service has an organization known as FIRESCOPE which was tasked with developing and implementing the fire service Incident Command System (ICS). She was our babysitter back then and I was looking for her full name. Even though this crash was well documented, it just seemed to fade away and no one spoke about it, but in my mind it was big. One of the guys started pointing to the sky to the northwest and we saw the DC7 plummeting to earth. I looked up into the sky towards Pacoima Jr. High. I think my sister and my father knew your cousin. A little detour here. I was also worried about them. April 21 I went to my 50th San Fernando Class reunion. . Such a sad day for so many! I do know that my dad (speech and English teacher) and Paul Morse (Music and glee club) were on the scene helping, as I assume were many other members of the faculty, but I really dont know the particulars; dad rarely talked about that day. The community calls for the redevelopment of the . For the first time, the woman she helped, Ania, tells the story of her desperate quest to end her pregnancy. Eight people were killed, including three students at Pacoima Junior High School. Now it makes me think of your father too (but in a good way). A VERY SAD DAY AGAIN, WHEN WE LOST HIM MR. BUCHANAN WAS MY ENGLISH TEACHER AND A DARN GOOD ONE TOO.. First, thank you for the kind words about my dad. I was playing outside. Regarding Ritchie Valens friend: there seems to be some dispute as to whether one of the victims was Valens best friend. Yeah, Ill bet it seemed longer. {\colortbl;\red255\green255\blue255;\red0\green0\blue0;\red235\green235\blue228;} At least on the LAFD my actions could make a difference and count. We live in Custer County, population 2,000, not a single traffic light in the whole County perfect. I still remember some of the kids in my classes like Craig Bentley, Walter Gorse, Jeff Abraham, Pam Gates, Scott Roberts, Suzanne Maltz, Dennis Liff, Jim Roubal, As far as teachers, I remember Mr. Marto, Mrs. Oshatz, Mrs. Stowsky and I believe it was Mr. Praglin who taught class and kept his pack of cigarettes in his front shirt pocket. I was an eyewitness to the carnage. Yknow, at the house we never talked much about the crash. We heard a loud roaring sound and all of us turned toward the windows facing the courtyard. April 3, 1957; UK Tests a Hydrogen Bomb May 15, 1957; Little Rock Crisis One more way the Buchanan family was connected to that grisly day. He said something about getting back to the Base because he hadnt checked out. And yes, please, feel free to include the link. I mean its just wrong that such things happen, they were just 12 years old, and had their whole life ahead of them. My kids were watching La Bamba with me and I told them what had happened and my youngest son James (whos very sensitive cried about it). Hi Mike thank you for your detailed recollection. Sincerely, I assume you went to Pacoima after Terra Bella. I was at my friend Pattis house, playing with her Moms box of buttons on the living room floor. He mentioned that he used to pick me up at the same spot each day and that on that day part of the landing gear from the plane landed in the same spot. Then, when I got to Pacoima Jr. High the drills just stopped. STUDENTS CRYING, PARENTS SEARCHING FOR THIER CHILDREN, SHERE PANIC.. DEBRIS ALL OVER THE SCHOOL AND IN MY NIEGHBORHOOD, I TOO DONT LIKE TO FLY AND WILL AVOID IT IF POSSIBLE. He was in the 7th grade, but not on the gym field. Hi Kevin The memories of that awful day still haunt me. Background [ edit] I, too, remember bits of metal raining down against the blue sky. Oh, and who was Richie Valens best friend I know it was one of the boys that died but who was it. As you see in the comments here, it seems everyone who lived through that day recalls every detail as if it happened yesterday but always with their own unique take on it. The organizers believe the sound of an actual disaster will lend gravitas and realism to the drill. As for the students, I remember Craig Bentley, Suzanne Maltz (vaguely rings a bell), Dennis Liff and Jim Roubal. The pilot died in the crash. If youd prefer a larger file, wav. I was amazed to run across your recording of the sounds of that tragic day. In fact, during my young adult years I flew a great deal and almost always enjoyed the experience. In doing so, it began raining debris onto the Pacoima neighborhoods below as the aircraft began to break apart. I hoped these Pacoima pages might have cathartic value for some readers, and it seems that they have. By the way, in the audio recording you have, to me it sounds like the school official is saying: It was a jet blast. Stubborn bastard haha. Stephanie Hoenig Reifsnyder. Two years after the Pacoima disaster, Valens was killed along with his fellow performers and tour mates, J.P. Big Bopper Richardson and Buddy Holly when their light plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa. I think for me it was validating. I still cry when I try to tell people what happened that day. That day is still only yesterday and it was 57 years ago. The next thing I remember is the crash. I then went to San Fernando High until, in a fit of good judgment, they kicked me out. It rolled to the left and began an uncontrollable, spiraling, high-velocity dive earthward. I was five years Oldfield at a nearby nursery school when this happened. I hope your visit back to the homeland proves to be a great time. Today I fly, I am a pilot, but I remember. Who knows, I may have completely repressed those memories. The image of a hunk of metal slicing through an elementary school classroom is terrifying. The first kid to see it saw the impact flash. Some dived to the ground; others were running when the blast of debris overtook them. I was doing some research on this so thanks for posting the information. Later that afternoon when my father came home, we drove to the seen. It is pretty cool. I was visiting with a new friend a couple of weeks ago and found out that we grew up in the same area. We couldnt get any further than the chain link fence surrounding the school. Boys running and screaming in pain and confusion. Thanks, Im ok. Some buried stuff, as Ive just learned, but getting that up and out is, I think, a good thing. Steve Phillips The conventional wisdom says that Lee is the long-shot candidate in the blockbuster race. My sister and I lost touch with Cindy, his sister, in the late sixties. I remember walking down Pierce St. to Richard Kellers house one day and Rusty was playing lead guitar with the Showmen practicing in a garage. If there is no giant logistical or technical hurdle, would you send me an mp3 of the souped-up version of the audio you used in the drill? I was walking out the school gate when I heard and then saw the DC 7 crashing. Back then, my dad moonlighted as a news broadcaster at KGIL and, I believe, one of the radio network affiliates. My Great Uncle Mike aka Mike Galasso was in this. Hi, Dave I, like all of us that were there that day, will never forget it. The remains of Carr, Twitchell and the other crew members -- radio operator Roy Nakazawa, 28, and flight engineer Waldo B. Adams, 42, both of Los Angeles -- were found in the fuselage, which smacked into the ground at Pacoima Congregational Church, adjacent to the school. We were both very lucky that day. On January 31, 1957, a Douglas DC-7B operated by Douglas Aircraft Company was involved in a mid-air collision with a United States Air Force Northrop F-89 Scorpion and crashed into the schoolyard of Pacoima Junior High School located in Pacoima, a suburban area in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. 1 February 1957; Page 11; San Bernardino Sun, Volume 63, Number 132, 1 February 1957 Page 11. . Is the beginning of her speech on the tape too, or is what you posted what you have? John Vardanian was a PE teacher and track coach at Poly High at least through 1967 when I graduated. We were all taken out as if a fire drill and watched a parachute decending. I was in class, a distance from the ball fields, but we saw the flash and thought it was a bomb. You were certainly an adventurous and inquisitive fourth-grader, werent you. Thank God for that. But, there was also a lot of humanity and caring for others on that day, as well. I cannot believe I came across this recording. Her name was Joyce. I think we were singing at the dedication of Pacoima Memorial Hospital. Yeah, haunting is right. I suppose the single most interesting aspect of this story and the recording is how many people were, as you put it, haunted their entire lives by this tragedy. Man, those would be difficult images to shake as a kid or as an adult, for that matter. And Larry Bakken. Cant wait to visit from Michigan in a few weeks and I cant wait to show my kids my real home. This comment is for Allen Hester. If there is anyone else, please call me. Debris on the Pacoima Junior High School Athletic Field. My family moved to the west side of Pacoima so I wasnt able to attend PJH until 1960. I may have only been five, but youd think I would remember the sound of the explosion or the sirens, considering that my mom and I were at the church adjacent to the school when the DC-7 came down. I found this website with a bunch of newspaper clippings on the event. He recalled gazing up at his chute on the way down and seeing widening circles of blue sky. Jan. 31, 1957: Military and police personnel at scene of the crash of a Douglas DC-7B transport on the grounds of Pacoima Congregational Church, adjacent to Pacoima Junior High School. My first band spent many hours in a Mission Hills garage learning how to play and annoying the neighbors. Broadcaster at KGIL and, I think, a good way ) audio of the houses across the Street the... 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