Last Sunday, we decided to hop in the car and head out for a day in North Park.
One of the goals of the day was to see the memorial plaque at the corner of Dwight and Nile streets, where PSA Flight 182 sadly crashed on Sept. 25, 1978.
The 47th anniversary last month marked what was at the time was the nation’s deadliest commercial airliner crash in history.
It has always intrigued me. I was not living in San Diego at the time, but I do remember, as a teenager on the East Coast, hearing about the tragedy. Although I have now lived in San Diego for 30 years, I had not previously seen the plaque at Dwight and Nile.
While such a plaque, of course, can never bring back those lost or diminish the pain the living families and friends of the victims have, it is important that these victims killed on the airliner, small plane, and on the ground are never forgotten.
Accidents are rare but do happen with jetliners
Most of us have flown on various types of aircraft over the years.
Personally, I have been on several hundred commercial flights over the course of nearly 45 years of traveling.
Ironically, I flew for the very first time as a teenager to Chicago only weeks after American Airlines Flight 191 crashed at O’Hare Airport on May 25, 1979. The crash claimed 273 lives. It is still the worst jetliner crash in American history.
I would be lying if I said that crash was not on my mind when I was boarding a flight for the very first time as a 14-year-old.
While the airline industry in general is much safer than riding in a vehicle on the freeway or local roads, accidents do occasionally happen. The people killed 47 years ago on PSA Flight 182 had no idea what awaited them as they began their days.
If you have not seen the plaque or other related memorials to those lives lost, I encourage you to do so. It is the least we can do.
Halloween season can put a smile on your face
We then drove around some other streets in North Park on this beautiful fall afternoon when we stumbled upon a house at the intersection of Upas and Bancroft streets.
Halloween is in the air at one home in North Park. (Photo by Dave Thomas/Times of San Diego)
Even in my, shall we say, later adult years, Halloween is still one of my favorite days of the year.
One thing I have noticed recently about Halloween is that it is more than just a day when it comes to celebrating.
I’ve been seeing many Halloween decorations popping up all over San Diego in recent weeks, making it feel more like a season.
In fact, some of the displays rival or even surpass some we typically see when the Christmas season rolls around.
As we came upon the home on the corner of Upas and Bancroft streets (3388 to be exact), our eyes lit up.
Halloween is in the air in one North Park neighborhood. (Photos by Dave Thomas)
While I have seen some good Halloween displays around San Diego in recent weeks, this one blew me away.
The man and woman living there were outside and seemed quite nice. The man, on a break from cutting the lawn, said that it is not uncommon to have thousands of people come by during the season. As we were snapping pictures (there is much to take in), a few other people came by.
While I had wanted to see the PSA Flight 182 plaque, and I continue to this day to read up on the crash that tragically claimed so many lives all those years ago, seeing this home decorated for Halloween was definitely a pick-me-up.
We decided after leaving that we would need to come back one evening and drive by the home to see it lit up.
I expect I’ll see a few more cool Halloween displays in the coming weeks as we get closer to the big day on Oct. 31.
In the meantime, I would encourage anyone looking for several minutes of light-hearted fun to go check out this particular home in North Park.
READ NEXT