"What is THAT?!" Nightmare at Los Angeles airport.

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Yes, I was on this flight in Row 11. My son shared this video with me today. It's been 33 years this week since this horrible tragedy occurred. The details in this video are very insightful and as a survivor, still hard to watch. I remember the flight attendants did tell us to get into a "crash" position (head between our knees) as soon as we hit the other plane. We had touched down and as our nose was going down, we hit the commuter flight waiting to take-off. I knew we had hit something, the pilot hit the brakes hard, and the plane immediately burst into flames as it bumped forward. I could tell we were on grass at one point. My seat unhinged and was on top of me. My seat mate whom I was talking with most of the flight, lifted it off of me. He ended up being one of the two men trying to open the Left Wing exit door. The woman in that seat was frozen in fear, and they were struggling, not fighting (as some later reported) to open it. That wing was on fire, so he was badly burned upon exiting and rolling off of the wing. It is a true miracle that no other passengers went out of that exit where there was a great deal of flames. A blessing actually. It was chaotic inside, dark, and smokey. We had only minutes to get out. I climbed over the seats to find the wing exit. I was the last one to exit on the Right wing. I remember looking back and only seeing smoke billowing out of the exit door behind me. Most of the passengers went to the back to try and exit. Since we were positioned on top of another plane, we were higher from the ground. I looked for a slide or ladder or anything from the wing to the ground, but there was none so I decided to jump out of fear that the plane would blow up. I shattered both of my feet on impact, but didn't know it until I made it to triage. When we hit the abandoned fire station, we had just barely missed the Pan Am International glass terminal full of hundreds of passengers. Some of our passengers were banging on the doors to get in, but couldn't. I remember the faces of the people inside who couldn't help us. Later, we were told that at first thought, it may have been a potential terrorist attack. They didn't know that another plane was involved until they found a propeller. It was awful and I'm so incredibly sad for those that were lost that night. Everyone on the USAir flight survived the impact except for our brave pilot. Those that lost their lives just couldn't get out or never unbuckled their seat belts out of shear fear. Sadly, we hear about close call runway incursions too frequently, and a few years after this fatal crash, I was in another runway incursion at LAX, but our pilot had time to abort the landing and took off again over the ocean just in time to avoid it. God Bless you all and those that were affected by this sad tragedy.

My mom survived this crash. She was in row 11 and crawled over rows of seats to get to the right wing exit because the aisle was jammed. She jumped from the tip and broke both feet when she hit the ground but got up and ran from the fire. Her recount of the ordeal is literal nightmare fuel, it’s a miracle she survived. Thank you for making this video, I’ll be showing it to her today and can’t tell you how much it will mean to her. She’s not a fan of the “Mayday”/“Air Disasters” dramatization of it so it’ll be her first time hearing some of these details and getting answers to some questions. Thank you again Edit: sent her the video, she hasn’t watched yet but when I mentioned the detail about the guys fighting at the door she said one of them had been sitting next to her and talking with her for hours before the crash. He was a retired LA police officer and they still keep in touch. She says the “fighting” wasn’t really a fight and didn’t slow evacuation, it was about opening a door that led to the worst of the fire. The people who ended up using it were burned severely if they even made it out I’ll follow up with any details she shares after she watches Edit 2: “I watched it. He did a good job. He didn’t mention that the flight attendents were screaming, “everyone get in a crash position. Head between your knees!”. So that baffles me that people still unbuckled too early. Some never unbuckled and succumbed to the smoke. Lots of people came out with their carryon or purses. Dumb asses” Edit 3: Yes my badass mom is ShelleyH727

Shout out to that BAMF firefighter who saved the first officer. The kind of spine it takes to look at an inferno and decide to climb into it and give someone a chance to live is legendary!

The captain on the metro was Andrew Lucas, he was my friend we learned to fly together. He was a force and guidance in my early flying life. Had it not been for his help and support I would not be an airline pilot. He is in Gods memory… rest in peace my friend and mentor.

Petter, as a member of the accident investigation team on this one, I would like to commend you for an excellent visual and oral presentation of 1493's demise. There are, as in all such situations, many side stories, some often better untold. This accident was a very "hot potato" for the FAA brass and more than once the NTSB IIC had to step in and restrict access to some of them. FYI-The "unused fire department building" that the wreckage collided with, had been constructed as a emergency fall back building to withstand an Atomic bomb attack on LA. Hence, it was close to an immovable object. The windows of the building were ,as I remember, at least 3" thick and withstood the impact of the two aircraft. Keep up the good work, my friend.

I used to work in medical regulation, and I love these videos so much. Honestly, medical regulators could learn so much from the aviation industry. The way regulators respond when things go wrong - without pinning everything on one individual and always assessing systemic issues - is truly something the medical industry should be doing. There's so much good practice to learn from!

I was a air traffic controller at Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center when this happened. One of my close colleagues, who was on my team, died on SKW Sky West. He was in his early 30s, married and a father of two very young children. His name is Scott Gillham. He was a good controller and a very nice guy. I had just ate lunch across from him a few days before this accident at our facility’s cafeteria. His funeral was packed with controllers and very emotional. It hit us hard. The tower controller was relocated to LAS Tower in an administrative job. She never controlled again. Her over the shoulder review that you mention, from my experience working 25 yrs controlling at both the Center and later LAX radar approach, was not a good review to have that many mistakes. Typically one might have 1 or 2 phraseology mistakes and nothing more. I retired from So Cal TRACON as a supervisor and if that was my employee, I would have utilized remedial training. Sad situation for both crew, passengers, and air traffic controllers,

Thank you for covering this. I had a cousin who was on the USAir flight and died. Per his friends (who survived) he may have gone back for his briefcase :( Very important lessons I never forget now - always keep your seatbelt on until the plane fully stops, especially in a crash, never go back for a personal belonging, don't sit in an exit row unless you really can fulfill the job. People's lives may depend on it. RIP Jim, he left behind a wife and 5 children. He was very loved.

The car travelling south at 0:38: Okay, so we need to take a left here.... NO!! NOT HERE!! GO STRAIGHT!!

I know the child of one of the women who survived this crash posted that the fighting at the emergency exit wasn't really fighting per say, but it makes me think of the stories I have heard of plane crashes where ppl were fighting each other to get out. It's very sad but ppl will do anything when their life is on the line that they wouldn't normally do. Talking about this topic, I can give a little piece of advice to anyone who may need to help save someone who is drowning one day. As a lifeguard for many years, we are taught to swim up behind the victim. This is so the person can't grab onto you and pull you under in their panic. When you get behind them, take your non dominant arm and put it underneath their same arm (so if you're using your left arm put it under their left arm). As you do this place your arm diagonally up across their chest, with your hand then coming up to cup the side of their neck. Ppl drowning are thrashing and cupping your hand around their neck gives you a way to push their head back away from yours. Lifeguards have been knocked unconscious by thrashing victims slamming their heads into the lifeguard's. This keeps your dominant arm free to help you swim with the victim back to safety. Sorry for the long post but you never know if you might need this knowledge one day.

Too many instances of “I feel like I’m forgetting something” for me to be an air traffic controller…

I was once allocated an overwing seat and a Flight Attendant briefed me on how to open the exit after checking I was able to do so, just as was described in this video. I appreciated them taking the time to do this, and I believe they also appreciated how I sat down and listened, paid attention and then asked them a short clarifying question. Had there been an emergency, this exchange may possibly have saved lives including my own. This is one of many reasons why I always shut the hell up and listen to any safety briefing, angered when my fellow passengers do not. It's reckless and dangerous to believe their mobile phones, distracting irrelevant yapping and packets of noisy crisps are more important than their lives & mine. It's also fiercely disrespectful towards the Cabin Crew who are trying to do their jobs and keep us all alive.

Every time I board an aircraft, once I am seated comfortably, I take out the emergency instructions card and have a good look at it. If I'm sitting in an exit row, I'll have a look to ensure I know how the door works. While I hope to never need any of that information, it is better to have it refreshed properly than to not think and know about it but needing it.

I remember once I was sitting behind the exit row and this woman kept on not listening to the flight attendant doing the evacuation briefing for those seats, the flight attendant got her to swap seats with someone else after she kept on looking at her phone.

My younger brother and sister knew the son of a couple who were passengers on that Sky West Metro aircraft. The son, who they knew in college, was suffering considerably due to the loss of his parents and as a result had lost direction in his life. A very sad story indeed.

I live near LAX clearly remember the bang. LAX now has a row of large lights on the taxiway: red = do not enter the runway; green = ok to enter. It also has a new tower and ground radar.

I appreciate the sensitivity you show when handling these tragic situations - you're the best!👍

I think this does shine a fact that disasters like these are cause because of a series of mistakes or errors, and never just one thing going wrong

I'm a retired flight attendant who was based at LAX, and this is an excellent and detailed account of what happened. Thank you for covering this very tragic crash.