Date / Time: Monday, January 13, 1969 / 7:21 p.m. Operator / Flight No.: Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) / Flight 933 Location: Pacific Ocean, near Los Angeles International Airport Details and Probable Cause: The Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) Douglas DC-8-62 jetliner (LN-MOO) was descending over the Pacific Ocean on approach to Los Angeles International Airport from Seattle, Washington, when it crashed into Santa Monica Bay six miles short of the runway. Upon impact, the jet's fuselage broke into three pieces, one of which subsequently remained afloat for 20 hours. Of the 45 persons aboard, 12 passengers and three flight attendants were killed in the crash. The jetliner's crew members were preoccupied with a landing-gear light problem and didn't notice the aircraft's gradual descent toward the sea. The accident was blamed on lack of crew coordination and their inadequate monitoring of the aircraft's position, which resulted in an unplanned descent into the water. Fatalities: 15 -- 12 of 36 passengers and 3 of 9 crew members. Number 10 of California's "10 Worst Crashes" Date / Time: Saturday, January 18, 1969 / 6:21 p.m. Operator / Flight No.: United Air Lines / Flight 266 Location: Pacific Ocean, near Los Angeles International Airport Details and Probable Cause: A second commercial jetliner crash into Santa Monica Bay near Los Angeles International Airport occurred just five days after an SAS DC-8 accident (see above) killed 15 persons. In the second offshore accident, a United Air Lines Boeing B727-22QC (N7434U) trijet, bound for Denver, Colorado, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, crashed at high speed into the Pacific Ocean 11.5 miles west of the airport shortly after takeoff. Two minutes into its flight, the plane's crew reported a fire warning in the No. 1 engine and shut it down. The aircraft had departed LAX with one of its three generators inoperable, and shutting down the suspect engine took a second generator offline. The remaining generator became overloaded and shut down, resulting in the loss of all electrical power aboard the 727. Flying in darkness and rain, with no lights or instruments, the captain became disoriented and the jetliner crashed into the ocean, killing all 32 passengers and six crew members on board. At the time, a battery powered back-up source for instruments was not required on commercial aircraft. The disaster prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to require all transport category aircraft to have new backup instrumentation installed, and powered by a source independent of the generators. Fatalities: 38 -- all 32 passengers and 6 crew members. Al ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Dunn" <billdunn2@xxxxxxxx> To: <AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, April 20, 2003 10:55 AM Subject: anyone remember two airplane crashes in Lax in 1969? > Does anyone remember two airplane crashes at > Lax in 1969? >