2003aug20. One for the boys & girls in Homeland Security.
December 7, 1987, Flight 1771 was on its daily run on the ‘PSA Expressway’ between LAX and SFO, piloted by Gregg N. Lindamood. David Burke, a disgruntled ex-USAir employee, made his way past security using his badge (which hadn’t been returned yet) and brought a gun aboard. He shot the crew, and then himself, causing the plane to nosedive from 23,000 feet, go supersonic, and hit a cattle ranch at 4:14 PM near Harmony, CA, killing 44. People thought it may have been an engine failure (since in February 1987, a BAe going to Reno had to land in Fresno after an engine disintegrated.) Burke had been fired from USAir over $69 in missing Liquor receipts.