One of the final lawsuits stemming from the crash was settled last fall when a federal judge awarded $2.9 million to the family of the jetliners pilot. The air traffic controller who tracked an Aeromexico jetliner before it collided with a private plane over Cerritos and crashed testified Tuesday that . She told us, Youre going to have periods when youre depressed. I was in church and I came out and I thought our new post office was on fire, he recalled. Rescue workers stand over one of two black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder, recovered from the Aeromexico DC-9 Sunday, September 2, 1986 in Cerritos, Calif. Fullerton, California. Knabe has been torn by the burden of having to play incompatible roles. In addition to the 67 people killed in the two planes, 15 Cerritos residents died amid the flaming wreckage and burning jet fuel that destroyed at least eight homes. Sometimes when I have a customer in front of me I start thinking a little weak--thinking like the customer, not like a finance manager.. Their terror had to be a hundred times worse than ours, Wes Neally said. Want to post on Patch? VIDEO: Final moments of fatal plane crash caught on camera by passenger There were body parts, a very, very horrific scene. I used to be a stronger person, said Ivan Medina, who plans to rebuild on Holmes but has yet to get started. Jeffrey began to realize he had to make a choice. We tried to make the place, although there were no homes left in certain places, at least get the I dont know how else to say it but get the smell of death and the thought of death off the ground and move forward, Knabe said. He prays more. The smoke-encased neighborhood was cordoned off. As for the neighbors who lived through the tragedy, many of them moved away. McIllwain--a high school senior at the time of the Aeromexico crash--attended USC, where he graduated with honors and went on to earn two graduate degrees at other universities. She started crying when she described it. Hours not available. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Also speaking will be Knabe and Koepke, along with members of the community. I heard the thrust reversals, the pilot instinctively trying to slow the plane. On a recent Tuesday evening, just back in his newly built home, Doug Fuller looked out of his living room and saw another eternal nuisance, the gawkers, the strangers who still drive up and down the block, still curious, still gesturing from their cars. "Cerritos plane crash 30 years ago: 'You either died or you didn't' " - Press Telegram. The three Kramers were killed instantly. Medina, a 42-year-old auto agency finance manager, used to live in one of the 10 homes that were obliterated in the seconds after Aeromexico Flight 498 plowed into an attractive, upper-middle-class neighborhood in Cerritos at 11:52 a.m. on Aug. 31, 1986. Ambulances were there but they were not needed, because it was a coroners situation.. In that brief flash of time, the 58 passengers of the. I knocked on the door and they let me through, he said. The accident killed 82 people 67 in the planes and 15 on the ground. Hes not the take-charge guy he used to be. In Cerritos, the emotional wounds from the crash took time to heal. Denise Guzman got a phone call about it at her home in Whittier, where her family was having a barbecue, the same kind of barbecue that had been planned--and then abruptly canceled--the day Aeromexico Flight 498 went down, with Guzmans father-in-law and four other in-laws on board, returning from a Mexican fishing trip. Aug. 31, 1986: A deputy stands amid debris on Holmes Avenue after the jetliner crash in Cerritos. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? No one has gone without food, shelter or many offers of counseling--a $180,000 disaster fund sponsored by the City of Cerritos and a well-coordinated psychological care program run by county mental health officials have seen to that. This post was contributed by a community member. Her seat had cut that hole. She, her husband and her son were met with fire, smoke and debris. Im so thankful that was my final memory, said McIllwain, now 26 and a teacher. After the National Transportation and Safety Board inspected the scene, the city began the long journey of bringing the neighborhood back to normal, clearing out the dirt and debris, fencing off the area and eventually rebuilding homes. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon), This iconic photo of the Aeromexico DC-9 plummeting from the sky was taken by then-Cerritos Planning Commissioner Al Francis, who had been taking pictures of his granddaughter at his home at the time of the plane crash in 1986. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), A Cerritos Air Disaster survivors terrifying memories, Biden expected to tighten rules on US investment in China, More Iranian schoolgirls sickened in suspected poisoning wave. California. As the citys mayor at the time of the crash, he had to uphold a strong, optimistic public image and quickly plunge into hundreds of logistical details for the neighborhoods recovery. Thats as close as anyone has come to understanding, Wes Neally said. . I have to pinch myself to get out of it. She cannot explain her hunger. A black path runs through the Cerritos, Calif., neighborhood in this August 31, 1986 file photo, after a midair collision between an AeroMexico DC-9 and a small twin-engine plane. I see the change at work, where hes supposed to negotiate the highest possible price for car deals. He is the author of four books, most recently a memoir/collection I'm Dyin' Here. On August 31, 1986, an Aeromexico DC-9 was clipped by a small plane over Cerritos. She had seen the little plane coming down, and she thought it was going to hit her when she was standing in the backyard. Parking. My limitation is that I cant tell the difference between your fact and your fiction. We saw people in their closets that couldnt understand why they were saved and their neighbors houses blew up with the airplane, Knabe said. 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She wasnt talking at all, only groaning and rocking back and forth, he said. The body of one of the victims of the crash between an Aeromexico jetliner and a small plane is removed from roof of home in Cerritos, Calif., Monday, September 1, 1986. CBS2's Dave Lopez, who covered the tragedy that day, takes a look back at the disaster. We moved back, but for me that just made it worse, Estrada said. The note read: Plane hit house. In California during the last year there have been eight midair collisions, killing seven and injuring three. The couples other daughter, Rochelle, then 15, worried when her mother didnt pick her up from her aunts house as she had promised. Never had so many been killed on the ground as the result of an airline crash in the United States. Come back by 12:15 p.m., Linda McIllwain told him. What if Id been outside, washing my car, instead of inside, in the back bedroom, watching a tennis match? Ivan Medina asks himself again and again. Of the six families whose homes were destroyed without loss of life, five plan to move back. If someones talking about Aeromexico, that subject gets changed real quick, said Grundmann, who was on duty when Walter White, the controller responsible for guiding Flight 498 into LAX, turned to a supervisor and calmly reported, Russ, I think Ive just lost an airplane., Its something that happened. But after his alarm rang at 9:30 a.m., he changed his mind, jumped into khaki jeans and a cream-colored button-down shirt and headed for church. After talking to counselors and to each other, we decided it was not a good idea to move back into the area that we were fighting for our lives to get out of, said Wes Neally, who was badly burned by the time he, his wife, their then 8-year-old daughter Reanna and her friend Diane escaped. Cerritos plane crash 30 years ago: 'You either died or you didn't' The jet plunged like a spear into a home on Ashworth Place in Cerritos, its engine and parts of its fuselage crashing into nearby homes. In a way, I envy Robbie, because he saw it. Ive come to the conclusion there was a God up there, but he wasnt picking or choosing, she said, sounding at peace with her answer. No one wanted that. Instead, the most important piece came in reaction to our story on Wednesday on the 30th anniversary of the Cerritos Air Disaster. Nor can she get over how, perhaps 50 feet closer to the impact point, the family of Frank and Theresa Estrada was not spared. He found comfort in carrying out his mothers dream. People would see me and turn the other way, like they felt I was bad luck, or diseased, Estrada said. She was still waving as he pulled out of the driveway, Jeffrey remembers. Its a fitting place for the memorial. Back to our (considerably) less horrific columns, reader John Billings called us out on our claim that we once did such a weak job of haggling over the price of a new car that the sales manager went ahead and lopped $2,000 off the agreed-upon price. In the year since then, more slowly than was anticipated, a new neighborhood has arisen. But Jeffrey McIllwain kept mementos, a charred piece of wood, the plastic driving glasses and a hairbrush that his mother stored in her car. About 20 houses were either completely or partially destroyed. On August 31, 1986, an Aeromexico DC-9 was clipped by a small plane over Cerritos. Someone just paid HOW MUCH for an original iPhone? Today, Neally, a Los Angeles County weights and measures inspector, lives with his family in Yorba Linda, 15 miles east of the home where they lived 15 years. Its not an easy thing, but its an important thing, he said. 82 people total lost their lives, including 64 on the DC-9, 3 on the small plane and 15 on the ground. Two weeks ago they had to relive the nightmare when Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed on takeoff in Detroit, killing at least 155 people. It was a cousin. I had 16 years with one of the best mothers anybody could ever have had--granted I wanted 80 more years with her, he says, his dark eyes moist. People just wanted to move on.. Encountering friends and former neighbors was wrenching. Its the little stuff, too. Dennis McIllwain could not believe his wife was dead. It was so late he figured he would skip church for the first time in two years and sleep in. I could see into our kitchen, and there were white balls of flashes.