Remembering Pan Am Flight 759 crash in New Orleans metro, 42 years later
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Rescue workers sift through the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 759 that crashed during a thunderstorm on July 9, 1982, in Kenner. Photo: Bettman/Getty Images
Tuesday marks the 42nd anniversary of Pan Am Flight 759, which crashed in a New Orleans metro neighborhood, killing 153 people.
Why it matters: It remains one of the deadliest plane crashes in U.S. history.
The big picture: Pan Am Flight 759 crashed shortly after taking off from the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on July 9, 1982.
- It was a regularly scheduled flight from Miami to Las Vegas with a stop in New Orleans, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation report.
- The Boeing 727 hit a microburst during a thunderstorm and crashed into a Kenner neighborhood, killing all 145 people on the plane and another eight on the ground, NTSB said.
Zoom in: The jet left debris for four blocks, WWL reported. Six homes were destroyed and five were damaged, and first responders were tasked with searching the rubble for survivors.
Miracle baby: A Kenner policeman found 16-month-old Melissa Trahan alive near her crib in a destroyed home.
- Her mom and 4-year-old sister died in the crash, but their spirits live on in her, she told WWL on the 30th anniversary.
- Trahan grew up, graduated from LSU, got married and had her own daughter, according to People.
What's changed since: Doppler radar is now used at airports to detect wind shear and microbursts like the one that brought down the plane.
- The airport also built an east-west runway as a result of the crash so planes could take off over uninhabited swamp in St. Charles Parish, former Kenner Mayor Aaron Broussard told WWL.
- There's a memorial for the crash victims in the courtyard of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Kenner.
Go deeper:
See more photos from the crash.