As Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 made its final approach to SFO, all seemed well. May 7, 1964, had dawned cloudy, but as the two pilots navigated the short flight from Stockton, they’d had no trouble. Behind them, 41 passengers and a flight attendant prepared for landing.

At 6:47 a.m., as the plane glided toward San Ramon, an air traffic controller made contact to let them know their transmission wasn’t coming through clearly. A moment later, what sounded like a scream ripped through the airwaves.

“Skipper’s shot,” someone was shouting. “We’ve been shot.”

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The air traffic controller asked the pilot to repeat the message, but no answer ever came. A seismograph at a nearby military base spiked, and a United flight in the area radioed in to say they’d spotted a plume of black smoke coming from the hills south of Danville. 

For the first time in American history, airline passengers had something new to fear: murder in the skies.

A clipping from the Contra Costa Times on May 8, 1964.

Although largely forgotten today, the downing of Flight 773 is the deadliest single act of mass murder in California history. Its reverberations were felt throughout the world, leading to a change in airplane safety that has been ubiquitous now for six decades. 

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The tragedy began with a routine flight from Reno to Stockton early on the morning of May 7, 1964. The crew consisted of Capt. Ernest Clark, 52, First Officer Ray Andress, 31, and flight attendant Marjorie Schafer, 30. Witnesses said the pilots seemed in high spirits, and the ground crew didn’t notice any issues with the plane. After the short stop in Stockton to take on more passengers, they took off for the final leg to SFO. 

The flight from Stockton to San Francisco, even in 1964, was a short one. The plane had barely taken off when it was already time to start the descent into SFO. But something went horrifically wrong over the ranchland off Camino Tassajara in San Ramon. It was seconds between the first officer’s cry for help and the fatal impact. Unlike today’s large commercial airlines, this smaller plane was flying much closer to the ground, and there was no time to correct its swift plunge. The plane smashed into the east-facing side of the hills, scattering debris 1,000 feet across the slope and instantly killing everyone aboard.

 Pacific Air Lines N2770R at San Francisco International Airport,

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