Family members of those who died in the PSA Flight 182 crash nearly 40 years ago will share their memories after a free screening of “Return to Dwight and Nile.”
The documentary by amateur filmmaker Dave Fresina refers to the North Park intersection where the Boeing 727 crash landed after a midair collision with a Cessna that killed all 135 people aboard the commercial jetliner, along with two in the private plane and seven people in houses.
Nearly two dozen homes were damaged or destroyed and nine other victims on the ground were injured.
The 40th anniversary of the tragedy will be remembered at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25 — the date of the crash — at Grossmont College’s Griffin Gate, Building 60.
The event is being organized by Grossmont College history Professor Marty Ennis.
Ennis calls the then-deadliest air crash in the nation’s history a uniquely San Diego story.
The airline, Pacific Southwest Airlines, was based in San Diego and many aboard the doomed flight were PSA employees.
When Ennis organized a similar anniversary event two years ago at Grossmont College, it drew an overflow crowd and the emotions of the speakers and the audience were deep and still close to the surface, the college says.
“All these years later, people in San Diego vividly remember this event and many still suffer the loss of family and friends,” Ennis said.
“Members of the San Diego police and fire departments who were first responders experienced the most difficult moment of their career on that day. Many people in San Diego had friends and relatives who worked for the airline.”
A group is dedicated to the creation of a memorial to the victims of this crash, Ennis said.
A question-and-answer period will follow the documentary’s screening and family members and others personally affected by what remains California’s worst airline disaster will be invited to share their stories.
Grossmont College is at 8800 Grossmont College Drive in El Cajon.
