California's Worst Disasters Remembered

On special holidays we remember and pay homage to those who lived and now are gone.

The 2nd biggest single event in the history of the United States by death toll happened in California. In 1906 the San Francisco Earthquake was responsible for the death of between 3,000 and 6,000 people, second only to a tropical cyclone in Galveston, TX in 1900.

In 2013 three known remaining April 18, 1906 Earthquake survivors were Bill Del Monte, 107; Winnie Hook, 107; and Ruth Newman, 111. An early morning memorial at Lotta's Fountain on Market Street is held at 5 a.m., shortly before the 1906 earthquake shook the city, according to Lee Houskeeper, an organizer of the event. Annual painting of the fire hydrant at 20th and Church streets that helped to save the Mission District following the quake takes place each year on April 18.

In Golden Gate Park, California Academy of Sciences at 55 Music Concourse Drive, an exhibit lets visitors experience a realistic high-magnitude jolt.

600 people in 1928 died in the St. Francis Dam flood in Santa Clarita. It was around midnight that Southern California suffered one of the worst disasters in the state's history, second only to the earthquake and fire that devastated San Francisco in 1906. The St. Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon, about 50 miles north of Los Angeles, was intended to serve as a backup supply of water in case the flow of water from the Owens Valley was interrupted. Farmers and ranchers in the Owens Valley were battling the city over an aqueduct that drained their underground springs, and the city needed an alternative.

Construction of a new dam and reservoir began in 1924 under the supervision of famed engineer and Department of Water and Power chief William Mulholland. The reservoir held nearly 13 billion gallons of water — enough to supply Los Angeles for an entire year.

But on March 12, 1928, half of the dam suddenly collapsed, sending a huge wall of water, mud and debris hurtling down the valley towards the Pacific Ocean, 54 miles away. At least 470 died — no one is sure of the exact number — and the disaster ended Mulholland's career.

320 people died in an explosion of WWII ammunition at Port Chicago, Calif. in 1944. Worst home-front disaster of WWII gets recognition America's newest national park is largely removed from public view, just 5 acres on a remote bank of the Sacramento River on a military base in Northern California. The powerful story it holds has gone little-noticed as well: the worst home-front disaster of World War II, when 320 men — two-thirds of them African Americans — perished in a giant munitions explosion. Fifty of the survivors were court-martialed for refusing orders to return to work. Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial was made a full unit of the National Park System. That means federal dollars, rangers and a visitors center, as well as preservation of the historical site and ruins at Concord, Calif.

CALIFORNIA AIRCRAFT DISASTERS

144 people died in PSA Flight 182 in 1978 - was a Boeing 727-214 commercial airliner that collided with a private Cessna 172 over San Diego, California on September 25, 1978 popular early-morning commuter flight terminating at San Diego's Lindbergh Field. The flight originated in Sacramento on Monday, September 25, 1978, with a stopover in Los Angeles. A memorial plaque honoring those who died on both planes and on the ground is located in the San Diego Aerospace Museum, near the Theodore Gildred Flight Rotunda in San Diego's Balboa Park. On the 20th anniversary of the crash, a tree was planted next to the North Park branch library, and a memorial plaque was dedicated to those who lost their lives. The library is not in the immediate vicinity of the actual crash site, which is completely rebuilt and bears no visible evidence of the crash. On September 25, 2008, over 100 relatives and friends of the victims of PSA 182 gathered at Dwight and Nile streets in North Park for a 30th anniversary memorial of that fateful day. Return to Dwight and Nile film was made.

88 died in Alaska Airlines Flight 261 in the 2000 aircraft accident. A McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft, experienced a fatal accident on January 31, 2000 over the Pacific Ocean about 2.7 miles (4.3 km) north of Anacapa Island, California.

Flight from Lic. Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle, Washington, with an intermediate stop at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California. The two pilots, three cabin crewmembers, and 83 passengers on board were killed and the aircraft was destroyed. inadequate maintenance led to excessive wear and catastrophic failure of a critical flight control system during flight. The probable cause was stated to be "a loss of airplane pitch control resulting from the in-flight failure of the horizontal stabilizer trim system jackscrew assembly's acme nut threads. The thread failure was caused by excessive wear resulting from Alaska Airlines insufficient lubrication of the jackscrew assembly. The families of the victims approved the construction of a memorial sundial that was placed at Port Hueneme. The sundial was designed by Santa Barbara artist Bud Bottoms to cast a shadow on a memorial plaque at 4:22 p.m. each January 31.

82 died in the 1986 Cerritos mid-air collision of aircraft.The 1986 Cerritos mid-air collision involved Aeroméxico Flight 498, a chartered DC-9, and N4891F, a Piper PA-28-181 Archer owned by the Kramer family. Aeroméxico Flight 498, registration XA-JED, was a Douglas DC-9-32 en route from Mexico City, Mexico to Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, United States (with stops in Guadalajara, Loreto, and Tijuana[1]) on August 31, 1986. N4891F was a privately operated Piper PA-28-181 Archer owned by the Kramer family en route from Torrance to Big Bear City, California. The two aircraft collided in mid-air over Cerritos, California, killing all 67 aboard both aircraft and 15 people on the ground. In addition, eight people on the ground sustained minor injuries from the crash. On March 11, 2006, the City of Cerritos dedicated a new sculpture garden featuring a memorial to the victims of the accident. The sculpture, designed by Kathleen Caricof, consists of three pieces. One piece, which resembles a big wing, commemorates the victims aboard the Aeroméxico jet. A similar, but smaller, piece (which also sits atop a smaller pedestal) commemorates the victims aboard the Piper. A third piece, a bench, commemorates the victims on the ground. The bench also allows visitors to sit and reflect on the disaster. The names of the victims are listed on the pedestals holding the two wing-like pieces. The smaller pedestal is dedicated "in loving memory" of those who perished on the ground, and the larger pedestal is dedicated "in memory" of those who perished aboard the two planes. The names on both pedestals are listed in alphabetical order.

43 died in the PSA Flight 1771 aircraft accident near Cayucos in 1987 in a murder-suicide scheme by one of the passengers. All 43 people on board the aircraft died. The man who caused the crash, David Burke (born May 18, 1952), was a disgruntled former employee of USAir, the parent company of PSA.

David Burke's supervisor was a passenger on the flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco, which he took regularly for his daily commute to and from work. As the British Aerospace BAe 146-200 cruised at 22,000 ft over the central California coast, it is speculated that the final shot fired by Burke had killed the airline's chief pilot, who was also on board as a passenger and who may have tried to reach the cockpit to save the aircraft.

According to the TV series Mayday, a fragment of Burke's fingertip was recovered with the gun which indicated that he was alive and holding the gun until impact. The plane crashed into the hillside of a cattle ranch at 4:16 p.m. in the Santa Lucia Mountains near Paso Robles and Cayucos. Passengers included: Allen F. Swanson, Long Beach, Calif., public affairs manager for Chevron in Southern California | James Sylla, 53, Kentfield, Calif., president of Chevron USA | Owen Murphy, Los Angeles, regional vice president of public affairs for Chevron | Jocelyn G. Kempe, 56, Ojai, Calif., a senior public affairs representative for Chevron USA Inc.

38 people died in the United Airline Flight 266 aircraft accident in 1969 over the Santa Monica bay.

35 died in the 1969 aircraft accident in Lone Pine.