Local Aircraft Crashes – Locating the F-89 Wreckage in La Tuna Canyon

The 1957 Pacoima mid-air collision is one of the most tragic air crashes in Southern California. The crash, involving a DC7 passenger plane and a F-89 fighter jet, killed people in the planes and people on the ground. The wreckage of the DC7 landed on a schoolyard full of kids at Pacoima Junior High while the F89 continued out-of-control, finally crashing in La Tuna Canyon.

The crash went down like this: On a clear winter morning in 1957, two F-89 twin-seat fighter jets from Palmdale were practicing intercept runs over the San Fernando Valley. At the same time a brand-new DC-7 transport plane with five crewmembers was on a test run in the same airspace. Both pilots were absorbed in their drills and didn’t see each other. The F-89 slammed into the wing of the DC-7.

The pilots of the now one-winged transport fought for control, but it nosed over and spun to the ground. The pilot managed to transmit on the way to the ground, “Uncontrollable, mid-air collision, we are going in. We’ve had it boys. I told you we should have had chutes. Say goodbye to everyone.”

Below the falling wreckage was a schoolyard full of kids, most of whom heard the wreckage coming and scrambled. The flight crew and three kids were killed and another 75 injured.

The F-89, now in flames, arched down, out of control. The back-seat radar operator ejected, landing on a roof in Burbank, but the pilot rode the flaming wreck to the ground. It impacted in La Tuna Canyon. The pilot’s body was retrieved and the wreckage salvaged.

But the crash site of the F-89 was lost to history until local explorer Matt Maxon got intrigued with finding it. Here’s what Matt wrote about locating this long-lost site of tragedy.

“I located a photo of the wreck site in the Los Angeles Times. I could immediately tell it was overlooking the debris basin, though at a much earlier time.

I hiked up the canyon from the debris basin but found nothing. Looking at the maps I decided to come in from the top. I hiked up the eastbound ramp of the 210 Freeway from Sunland Boulevard to the Green Verdugo Motorway, up that road to a ridge top that would take me to the canyon where the photo was taken.

“I constantly compared the photo to what I was looking at, getting discouraged the closer I got until bam! It lined up and there were scattered bits of metal that were most certainly from an aircraft. I found an ID tag from Northrop Aircraft Corporation with some numbers on it, one of which was the aircraft serial number.

“It was a great stroke of luck finding the photo with good information in the background or finding the wreck would have been much more difficult if not impossible. Like the mail plane, the only thing to go on are a few newspaper articles and a picture. The mail plane does have the elevation of the crash site, a crummy picture and some vague distances from distant landmarks, some clues from various officials. Maybe an old police report could be dug up with more information or fire department logs.

“The most significant thing that came out of this tragic event was banning flight testing over densely populated urban areas. Both aircrews were concentrating on their flight tests and not looking diligently for other aircraft. It is my understanding the ‘Pacoima Memorial Lutheran Hospital’ was built by the Lutherans because there was no area hospital to service the kids at the school where the other plane crashed.” 

Matt sent me photos of quite a bit of torn metal that he found on the site. He was probably the first one to locate the crash site since the plane was salvaged in the late ’50s. The area the jet crashed in is visible from La Tuna Canyon Road. As you pass the debris basin, look north and you’ll notice terraced areas. The crash site is just above that.

Mike Lawler is the former

president of the Historical Society

of the Crescenta Valley and loves local history. Reach him at

lawlerdad@yahoo.com.

  mike lawler