For those of us who lived in San Diego 25 years ago, Sept. 25 brings painful memories. Each year, I am among San Diegans who say a prayer for the 144 souls who were lost in the space of seconds on that hot fall morning when two planes collided over North Park. For me, the anniversary brings vivid images of Karen Borzewski, my neighbor, 29 at the time and a flight attendant on PSA Flight 182, and her best friend, Debbi McCarthy, who were among the members of the PSA family lost that day.
As a journalist, I knew the 25th anniversary would be marked by a story about the crash and its aftermath. Thursday’s article accurately noted that for those of us who lived in San Diego in 1978 the day remains as “haunting and vivid as Dec. 7, Nov. 22 or Sept. 11.”
John R. Njaa of Chula Vista, also anticipated a story. “At the time of the PSA Flight 182 tragedy, both my wife and I were employed by Gibbs Flite Center, the owner of Cesna 172, N7711G, the ‘private plane’ involved in the accident,” he wrote in a letter to the editor. “I was one of Gibbs’ flight instructors, and my wife worked in the business office. Last night, we were talking about it, as we always do this time of year, and we were wondering if there would be any recognition of the 25-year milestone in the media today. Jeff McDonald’s article in your paper today answers that question.”
Njaa said it was a good article, except for the fourth paragraph. He took issue with the sentence that said: “A private plane flown by a student pilot collided with a Boeing 727 making its final approach to Lindbergh Field.”
Njaa said the small plane, which was traveling at about 80 knots, did not collide with the 727, which was “overtaking it at a speed of roughly 180 knots.”
When I read the story, I also was struck by the description. John Cannon, who edited the story, explained that the word “collided” was used because it was a neutral term. Cannon said he was aware of earlier controversy when stories said the small plane struck PSA Flight 182. He and the reporter were careful to use terms that would not assign blame.
Cannon is correct in that collide means “to come into violent contact.” But, I think the phrasing that the small plane collided with the Boeing 727 inadvertently implied that the small plane struck the larger aircraft. To be truly neutral, it would have been better to say that the Cessna and the Boeing 727 collided.
Njaa said he didn’t think McDonald, the reporter, intended to assign blame but he was sure other readers would take it that way. McDonald said he had calls from about three small-aircraft pilots who took umbrage with the description but had about 20 calls from readers who thanked him for the story.
Njaa had another issue with the same sentence. It said the Cessna was flown by a “student pilot.” “Technically, that was not the case,” he wrote. “Both pilots were certificated pilots. One was a professional flight instructor; the other was at least a private pilot who was in training to add an instrument rating to his pilot certificate. They were on a legitimate training flight and were being handled by Air Traffic Control. You may say this is a small distinction, but again, in the eyes of the public, it put the two souls who were in the 172 (the Cessna) in the wrong light.”
The crash may have happened 25 years ago, but for those who remember it, it might as well have been yesterday.
Maybe it’s because editors at The San Diego Union-Tribune are so focused on the upcoming recall election. While Thursday’s paper thoroughly covered the debate among the five top candidates in the governor’s race, a story about another debate to take place that day was missing a crucial element. Readers who looked for the information in the Union-Tribune were annoyed, and I don’t blame them.
The story that was missing essential information appeared on Page A-3. The subject was Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark’s entry into the presidential race. The second paragraph of the story mentioned that Clark would be joining other Democratic Party candidates in a nationally televised debate in New York. Nowhere in the story did it say when and where the debate would be aired.
I couldn’t find the time or channel listed anywhere in the newspaper or in any other previous story about the debate. The newspaper should have served its readers better.
