Family members and those who were there that tragic day say it's long past time for a memorial for the 144 people killed in a plane crash on Sept. 25, 1978.
The image at the top of this story is forever seared into the memories of many San Diegans. It's one of two pictures taken by professional photographer Hans Wendt, who happened to have his camera around his neck as he was pumping gas a few blocks away.
“My brother was starting his first day at UC San Diego," said Myra Sulit Pelowski. Her brother Michael had boarded PSA flight 182 that morning in Sacramento.Michael Sulit's graduation picture is shown being held by his sister Myra Sulit Pelowski on Sept. 19, 2023.“I was waiting for him at the airport to make sure that he could get on the plane and he came back out and said I got the last seat on the plane. So, that was the last time I saw him," said Pelowski.
Then, fear of another horror overtook him. His family home was at 33rd and Dwight Streets, about a block from the crash site.North Park resident Mike Bagnas gestures toward the sky while describing what he saw on the morning of September 25, 1978 in this photo taken in North Park in Sept. 19, 2023.Street signs showing the intersection of Dwight and Nile in North Park are shown on Sept. 19, 2023.
The coroner was never able to identify her brother’s remains, but she has something else that she keeps in a green case with her brother’s high school graduation picture. It’s his wallet, found at the crash site, not damaged at all. The closest one is found outside the North Park Library Branch. It is under a tree, dedicated to the lives of those lost. It’s a rather small plaque, which doesn’t have one name on it of anyone who perished that day.
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