"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." 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."
"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."
On May 7, 1964, Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 crashed near San Ramon after radio transmissions captured a terrified cry and a passenger's shouted claim that the "skipper's shot." The short flight from Stockton to San Francisco carried 41 passengers, a flight attendant, and two pilots, Capt. Ernest Clark and First Officer Ray Andress. A seismograph recorded the impact and another aircraft reported black smoke from nearby hills. The crash killed everyone on board and ranks as the deadliest single act of mass murder in California history. The incident prompted long-lasting changes to airplane safety that remain widespread decades later.
Read at SFGATE
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