Am Flight 759 Left Physical and Emotional Scars on the Region That Still Linger
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NEW ORLEANS From Bienville to Bourbon Street to bounce. 300 moments that make New Orleans unique. WHAT HAPPENED On July 9, 1982, 1718 ~ 2018 Pan Am Flight 759 crashed after takeoff, killing 300 154 people. TRICENTENNIAL The crash of Pan Am Flight 759 left physical and emotional scars on the region that still linger. The most tragic and fatal crash in the U.S. that year, and in fact one of the most deadly airplane crashes in U.S. history, the crash killed 146 people on board the plane, and eight people on the ground. It demolished or de- stroyed 15 homes in Kenner’s Morningside Park neighborhood. The accident occurred when a Boeing 727, en route to Las Vegas, crashed shortly after takeoff. The plane had taken off from the then- New Orleans International Air- port and had ascended between 100 and 150 feet before wind shear forced the plane down just two minutes after takeoff. The AP The cockpit transcript from the final plane crashed into a neighbor- Newly sworn in Kenner Mayor Aaron Broussard directed the cleanup after the plane crash, which killed six small children on the ground. moments of Flight 759. hood 4,600 feet from the end of CHRISTIE FROOM PHOTOGRAPHY the runway. OFFICE SHERIFF’S PARISH JEFFERSDON A 16-month-old “miracle baby” who was in one of the houses was discovered alive amid the wreck- age, protected by debris that had fallen on her. The crash led to the develop- ment of an onboard wind shear detection systems that were re- quired by the Federal Aviation Administration on planes begin- The plane crash decimated a three-block area in Kenner and destroyed 15 homes. The plane hit two houses before ‘Miracle baby,’ Melissa Trahan, who was 16 months old at the time of the ning in 1993. landing and sliding, coming to a stop at 17th and Taylor streets. crash, with her husband Joey Ferrara and daughter Melanie Kate in 2014..