December 14, 1962, North Hollywood CA. A plane belonging to the freight airline Flying Tiger Line crashes in North Hollywood, East of Laurel Canyon between Vose Street on the north and Hart Street on the south. The investigation found that the pilot had a heart attack and slumped over onto the controls on the final approach to Burbank airport.My Dad worked for Flying Tiger Line and that night he was playing cards with a co-worker. I remember them hearing the news and going out to the crash site. Years later I went to work for a company on Vose Street just a few feet from the crash site. Vose is right under the landing path to Burbank airport. The first few weeks I was there I would flash back to that night every time I saw or heard a jet on final approach.
One day I was talking to a co-worker and we started talking about the airplanes overhead and I related my story of the crash to him. He told me his father had also driven out to the crash sight. That night when his Dad returned home from the crash sight he died of a heart attack.
44 comments:
I don't remember hearing anything about that plane crash. What a sad story about your friend's dad. Did his father work for the Flying Tigers or did he just go to the crash scene out of curiosity?
Bob Walance
My friends dad went out of curiosity as I recall. Sadly my friend died of a heart attack last year. I had it on my mind to call him but I hadn't. I learn again, I should call someone when it occurs to me because you never know.
I remember this crash very well...I had gone Christmas shopping with my mom, aunt and two cousins; we were just walking into my Aunt's upstairs apartment, when we heard an hellacious sound. It was almost deafening! My mom said,"He's coming in to say hello!" She no sooner got the words out that we heard the explosion and saw the flames. That plane hit two blocks in front of my Aunt's place. The five of us ran over to the site and it was not something I could ever forget. I was just a kid and I never knew what really happened; how sad to know the pilot died at the controls and how sad others lost their lives.
My grandfather died on that plane when my father was 9 years old. I have always had a curiousity about this since my family has been pretty tight lipped as to what happened. Granted I have heard a few versions or senarios but I am looking for as much information as i can find. My father never has gotten over losing his daddy at such a young age and my grandmother tried to do the best she could to explain and comfort but he still has questions he would like answered. If anyone can help me find an accident report or pictures of the crash sight, i guess anything that would be very helpful.
Who was your Grandfather? I do know there is a brief crash report somewhere on the internet, but I forget where. I found it by typing in the company name, date and location. I don't know of any photos on the internet. The one I posted was from a scrapbook my mom made for me. There are more pictures and articles. E-mail me at this blogs e-mail and I can dig it out again and take some photos of the articles. Unfortunately they are too large for my current scanner.
Is it just me, or has anybody noticed that there is a pattern of death happening in Hollywood?
I remember that very well. I am now 60, and I remember watching TV with my family. We lived in North Hollywood basically between Saticoy and Roscoe and Coldwater Canyon. We were used to hearing plane fly over but this one was really low. I was loud and it shook the house as it went over. My dad & I ran out the living room door and saw it directly overhead. No more than a 200 feet. My Dad a WWII vet said that plane won't make Burbank. Not more than a few second later we heard the explosion. Carl Greco
Thank you Carl for sharing your memories. A sad event but good to know others still remember it.
Guitar rat....his name was Jack Grey. Anything you can share would be great. My email is shawn76.sg@gmail.com. Thank you for commenting back to me.
I don't have anymore info but here is a link to an AP article about the crash:
http://www3.gendisasters.com/node/5636
I was a senior at U. S. Grant High School when the crash occurred. That night, I saw a flash of light and heard a boom. The next morning I learned about the crash, and recognized the name of one of the victims killed on the ground, Cathleen Roche, as a member of my graduating class. Our class was greatly shocked and saddened to learn what happened to her.
What caused the Emmerdale plane crash, i don't remember a reason for the plane crashing being determined?
For some reason, I just remembered that crash and looked it up, and found this post.
We lived in a upstairs apartment on Fulton, between Sherman Way and Vanowen. Going by the date, I was about four years old, but I still remember my dad telling my mom that the plane sounded really low.
Just like another poster above, my dad was a WWII vet, 101st Airborne.
Dad and I went to the crash site the next day.
I don't remember too much more than seeing the wreckage there.
A small plane crash-landed onto the northbound lanes of Florida's Turnpike Florida's Turnpike Latest from The Business Journals Expressway Authority continues to push Selmon financing planMichael Baker unit wins Suncoast Parkway contract Michael Baker unit wins Fla. roads contract Follow this company at Hollywood Boulevard at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, shutting down all lanes.
According to a Broward County Aviation Department statement, the single-engine Socata TMB 700 departed Opa-locka Executive Airport and was heading to North Perry General Aviation Airport in Pembroke Pines. North Perry tower personnel had given the pilot clearance to land.
According to investigators, the aircraft took off from North Perry Airport and arrived at Opa-Locka Airport. While the plane was en route to North Perry Airport, the plane experienced an unknown mechanical issue. The pilot then decided to land on the Turnpike.
Motorists who witnessed the crash immediately called for help. Fire rescue crews, Florida Highway Patrol troopers and other officials rushed to the scene. FHP Sgt. Mark Wysocky said, "At some point, there was some sort of mechanical problem with the plane. The plane was forced to attempt a landing in the northbound lanes of the Turnpike, just south of Hollywood Boulevard."
Read more: http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21005613925521/small-plane-crash-lands-on-turnpike/#ixzz1gPCf7SBs
What caused the Emmerdale plane crash, i don't remember a reason for the plane crashing being determined?
The plane flew directly over my aunt's apartment Whitsett Ave. and my mother no sooner said, "I think that plane's coming in to say hello to us!" we heard the loudest boom and crash I've ever heard. It crashed right behind my aunt's apartment and we all rushed over to the site immediately. I was just a kid but I remember vividly the horrible sight. I can still recall it today.
I remember the crash and saw the crash site the day after. I was 22 years old at the time. and worked not far from there.It was and bad seen and I will never for get it. One of the things I remember is the first thing the plane hit was a bilboard before it started to hit buildings.
I remember hearing about this shortly after we moved from the area of the plane crash. We lived in an apartment complex called Hart Villa in the early 60's. It was a great place to live with a built in pool. Coming from CT in the dead of winter, it was wonderful to live in a warm climate. I was sorry to hear that so many had lost their lives.
I was 10 years old when this happened, my older sister, Melba was good friends with Kathleen Roche and I was friends with her younger brother, we lived across the street from her house in an apartment on Vose St. next to an empty lot on Lankershim Blvd. where the billboard was, my dad worked at the Mohawk gas station across the street, a man that worked at the liquor store next to the gas station was on his sofa when it happened and an engine came through the bedroom roof and was where his bed was, in flames. In the morning I went out to look and it was very scary, the billboard had holes chopped along the top from a propeller, and everything across the street was just blackened ruins, my friends and I played in the lot below the billboard, I remember my dad complaining about oil or grease from the planes that would land on his white/green Pontiac. I liked when the U-2's would fly over us, they were real quiet and made an odd shadow compared to the other planes.
My Dad was on the Lockheed Fire Dept at that time and they responded ...He took a couple photos ....
I was 10 years old at the time also. We lived in a home on an "alley" behind Arnold Chemical on the north side of the fire station (89) on the west side of Laurel Canyon Blvd. The billboard was on the south side of the fire station, and I believe it was the landing gear that went through it. The plane continued across Laurel Canyon and went down on the east side of Laurel Canyon.
We were watching the Twilight Zone at the time of the crash, and I thought the Russians had started bombing us. That was the big fear at the time.
The lights went out, and we walked to the front of the station to see the fires burning. Very sad.
I remmeber it being foggy that evening... and understood it was a factor in the plane comming down short of the Burbank airport.
My stepmother Patti used to tell me how Christmas was a sad time for her parents because this crash killed their daughter, Patti's sister Cathleen. Cathleen was in her bedroom which was in a separate part of the house from where her parents were. The plane hit her bedroom and killed her. Such a sad story!
I remember this crash, I was 6 years old ,Our Baby sitter was the only one killed on the ground, My Dad took us for a ride by it a few days earlyer.
My father, Harry Gross was an LAFD Assistant Chief and devision commander of the San Fernando Valley. The night of the crash was his night off. It was a very foggy night. We were home watching TV when the telephone rang. It was headquarters informing him of the crash and requesting him on the scene. My mom and I got in the car with dad to take him to the nearest fire station to get a chief's car so he could go to the scene. He was in charge of the site on this one. I later asked him about seeing such horror. He just shook his head and said it never gets easy. But you have to do your job.
I remember this airplane crash shook our house like an earthquake! My Uncle also flew for Flying Tigers, so we heard the inside news.
Did that happend on 11847 Vose St ? I currently work there and I stay late nights due to paperwork that I need to complete. But un this build many people has heard voices of a girl asking for help. I also have heard it and stuff being thrown from our shelf. I'm trying to figure out what happened in the past. That is making us hear this voices. Till a customer of mine said that a plane crashesed there. Now this is making sence.
According to the map you work at the NE corner of Vose & Radford. The crash was west of Radford and as far as I know predominately on the south side of Vose.The building where I worked which was across the street from you on the other side of Radford next to J&M Aircraft Mfg. Thanks for your comment!
I was dating Cathleen Roche at the time of the crash and was two blocks away when the plane went down.
It is something I will never forget.
Cathy was a sweetheart.
I lived on Hart Street at the time of the crash. I was 7 years old. I had been in a Christmas play at school that evening. We came home, I went to bed, my mom ,dad, sister 17 yrs old and my brother 14 yrs old were all still up. Suddenly our lights went out and there was an extremely bright orange glow shining in every window in our house, we didnt hear a sound. My bedroom faced Hart Street, the back of our house faced the backyards of the homes on Vose Street. I pulled the covers over my head and my mom was frantically looking for me. My dad and brother ran outside to see a huge wall of fire at the end of our backyard...they thought it was possibly an attack as it was during the time of the Cuban misale crisis. My grandparents lived a block away and heard the horrendous sound, looked and saw the flames and thought we were killed...they ran down the street to find our house was not hit. Neighbors helped me dad get our cars out of our garage, as the flames were shooting up behind our garage. Then firetrucks pulled into our long driveway. Our backyard filled with people coming to see what was happening. Firemen were running past us as we stood on our patio in our backyard. We still had no idea what was happening. I believe at some point a firefighter told my parents. Here is what we were told happened plus other facts I know. ..an underpass on Laurel Cyn at Sherman Way had just been completed under the ralroad tracks. It was the 1st night all of the new street lights in that area were turned on. It was foggy. We were told that the pilot mistook the new lights as a landing strip at the airport, also that the plane was right in line with our house on Hart Street. The pilot realized it was not the airport as he hit a telephone pole in line with our home but west of Laurel Cyn. When he hit the pole it caused the plane to swerve over to Vose Street. When the pilot realized he was crashing in a neighborhood he had a fatal heart attack. He was a relative of my dad's cousins wife. It was a cargo plane so did not have many people on board. It wiped out all of the houses on the south side of Vose, my family knew sone of the people, especially the people that lived right behind us. There was a man, his wife and one of their brothers living there. The brother usually would have been in bed at that time but decided to stay up and watch TV in the living room...an engine broke off of the plane right in his bedroom!
That engine was right behind our backyard and stayed there all during the investigation. If he had gone to bed he would have been killed. The plane slid along the ground wiping out the houses on Vose then came to a stop in am empty field just a few houses down from us. It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced and I still remember it so clearly. My parents had to show ID to drive to our home for quite awhile afterwards.I don't know how long the wreckage sat there, as a child it seemed like forever. I remember the investigators putting tags on all sorts of evidence, there were toys that had been in the cargo plane scattered all over in the wreckage. The fuselage of the plane stayed in that empty lot where the nose of it had hit a brick wall at another house. I had to see that everyday and airplanes still look like big scary monsters to me. I went to therapy to get over my fear of flying but have only flown 2 very short trips.Years later when I was 16 I met my husband of now 40 yrs...turns out his sister was friends with Cathleen Roche. What we heard was that she was in the bathroom getting ready to go on a date (I guess with you, Don Fisher) when she was killed. I still have the newspaper from the Daily News with an aieral picture of the crash site, an article about it and an article and picture about Miss Roche. My parents knew some of the other neighbors on Vose as well.I'm sure there are variations of the story and what exactly happened but this is my eyewitness story as a child just several feet from the crash and the story as told to us.
Thank you so much for your first hand account of the FTL crash. Your account was very descriptive and adds to my memories of that night. The day you posted your comment I talked to my old boss who owned and ran a business on Vose St. near Radford. It isd amazing how times and places live on in our lives.
From Don Fisher... Thank you for posting your account.
I was on the corner of Vanowen & Laurel Canyon facing eastbound waiting for the traffic light. Suddenly out of the 10:00 position I viewed a huge fireball in the area where Cathy lived. I jammed to her house and saw absolute chaos on the south side of the street. Cathy's mom, dad and siblings where standing looking at their burning hame and destruction of the area.
Cathy's bedroom had an outside access door on the front of the house. I ran to the door and could only yell Cathy's name over and over. The back half of their home was just gone. The fire was gaining all to my left where the plane had stopped.
I roamed through the wreckage area in the hope I would find Cathy wandering searching for us.
Unfortunately that was not the case.
There is a hole in my heart that will be there until I pass on.
I pray I will see Cathy in Paradise.
Life does go on but I still miss her and her beautiful smile and sweetness.
May God Bless her.
Cathleen was my Aunt! I carry on her name. Patti Roche was my mom
Thank you for you kind words about Aunt Cathleen. Never got to meet her but my mom (patti) talked about her always and they are together now in paradise
S Grey,
I just came across this, and I see it's been sometime since your post asking for more information on the crash. Hopefully, you were able to find something to help you, if not check the NTSB site. I am a retired airline pilot. I was in 7th grade at the time of the accident. However years later as an airline pilot, this crash was the subject of some "hangar talk." I believe your grandfather was the flight engineer, and as such did not manipulate the flight controls. The version of it as I have heard is that the captain did become incapicated during the approach. The first officer (co pilot) was unable to maintain control of the aircraft. There is much speculation as to why, and I'm censoring myself here somewhat, but it is mostly just that, speculation. We lived in Canoga Park at the time, and there was TV coverage later that night. I remember it was an overcast rainy evening.
My co-worker Arlene Drew was friend's with Cathleen and she still remembers her and this tragic accident like if was yesterday. She told us how sad and tragic this was and honestly it was very hard for her to tell her side of the story. She does remember one occasion when they were both walking home and Cathleen boyfriend was waiting for her right by his car . such a cute couple she said.... Also Cathleen was a very beautiful person. Arlene still remembers and never will forget her friend.
I was 11 years old when this accident happened, and I also remember this tragedy as if it was yesterday. We lived on Van Noord Ave. which is one block west of Coldwater Canyon, between Vose St and Sherman Way. Our House was on direct approach to runway 7. I remember that is was a foggy rainy overcast night when flight 182 was on approach to Burbank airport. We thought that the plane sounded extremely low as we are used to planes flying over all the time. I remember running out and saw the plane which looked about 300 ft. and thought this was odd as the airport was still 3 1/2 miles away. After the plane passed , a few minutes later the lights flickered but didn't go out and then came a flash of light and a low rumble. My Dad worked as an Air Traffic Controller at Burbank. He called and told us what happened and said the plane was carrying a load of silver dollars (I never found out if this was true)
A Flying Tiger spokesman said four men aboard the plane were presumed dead although the coroner's office had identified only the body of flight engineer JACK W. GREY, 33, San Mateo.The airline spokesman said the others were Capt. KARL C. RADER, 38, Burlingame, pilot, a veteran of 12 years with the company; co-pilot DAVID L. CAPRO, 25, Compton, and JOHN A. OLSEN, of nearby Sunland, a passenger. OLSEN'S wife JANET works in the accounting department of Flying Tiger's nearby Burbank office.Flying Tiger said MRS. VIOLET BLAZEK, 57, of Chicago also was tentatively identified as having been on the plane. MRS. BLAZEK was the mother of MRS. JACK ELLIOTT of nearby Northridge, wife of a Flying Tiger employee, and had a pass to ride the plane here, a spokesman said.
If anyone can confirm the silver dollar theory please let me know. my email address is garyawoolston@hotmail.com Thanks.
If you have any photos, I’d greatly appreciate the chance to see them!
Shawn
My grandfather was the flight engineer. From what we were told, when the pilot had a heart attack, the co-pilot had fudged his credentials about his experiences and didn’t really k ow what to do. Either way it happened. For family archives and suck for my son. I really am looking to put some things together for him.
I still remember that night , we lived on hose Street about halfway down , are house was on a lot with a perlite factory where my dad worked, years later I went to to work there also, the crash happened at night , my sister and brother were both throwing up, my dad walked down to the crash site, the company s name was Red co Inc.
If Arlene Drew reads this please contact me. I am Cathleen's boyfriend that you saw by my car.
donfisher@hotmail.com
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posted here. I have never heard of this crash before and this has been compelling, emotional reading. Here's some photos I found online in the LAPL collection. (Please be warned that some of these may be distressing, especially to the people who lived it.) https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/search/searchterm/%22north%20hollywood%22%20flying%20tiger
I remember we were watching "77 Sunset Strip" that Friday night, near Laurel Canyon and Roscoe. The power when out briefly, and after a while a news bulletin broke in to announce a plane had crashed near Laurel Canyon a few miles south of us. The next day, I rode my bicycle over there, nothing was roped off and I walked through the smoking wreckage. I saw cargo strewn about... trinkets like key-chains from a Las Vegas casino.
I worked at Retco which was an airplane parts manufacturing company. I was 18 years old, in high school, and worked part time as a janitor. I had planned to work late that night, but was worn out and decided to return the next morning to do additional cleaning for the company Christmas party to be held that Saturday afternoon. When I walked in the house my mother grabbed me and exclaimed, “You are alive!” She had the television turned to the news. I had left the building less than twenty minutes before this terrible accident. There were three or four employees killed unfortunately. After the investigation was completed the inventory and cleaning process began. It was a terrible tragedy.
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