Watch ‘The Nightmare of Flight 498':
When two planes collided over an LA suburb in 1986
It was Labor Day weekend in 1986, when Aeroméxico flight 498 and a small Piper plane collided in the sky over a Los Angeles suburb. The collision sent both planes crashing to the ground in Cerritos. The Piper slammed down on an empty playground at Cerritos Elementary School. The Aeroméxico DC-9 nosedived into nearby homes, killing all 64 people on board and 15 people on the ground. Those aboard the Piper, a family of three, were also killed. NBCLA reporter Hetty Chang, who was 7-years-old at the time, lived in the neighborhood about 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. She witnessed the aftermath, devastation and media coverage that landed in her home town. "The Nightmare of Flight 498" revisits the plane crash through Hetty’s childhood memories and her experience as a journalist today.
