40-years-ago today, a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron slammed into Concord’s Sunvalley Mall, killing seven people (the pilot, two passengers and four people on the ground). The crash also seriously injured and burned close to 100 Christmas shoppers in the crowded mall. Killed in the plane was the pilot, James Graham, 67, of Oakland, and his passengers, 23-year-old Brian Oliver and 48-year-old John Lewis. In the mall, those who died were 22-year-old Pamela Stanford, 49-year-old Chandrika Shah, 45-year-old Patricia Larson and 14-month-old Alexander Luong, of Concord.
Mom and sister were in Macy’s when it happened. My life and my fathers were spared by MNF, otherwise we would be sitting in the seats in front of Macy’s waiting for them to finish shopping!
I was there. Was ten years old, father and brother stayed home (would have been sitting on 1st floor where debris and fire landed) but Mom and I went to Macy’s for a last minute dress. I was downstairs at the keyboards in Macy’s maybe thirty feet from the water feature and the escalator… I remember each second and replay the video vividly in my mind ever time this comes up. Nothing gave me more relief that hearing my name screamed from afar. Thank God I was exactly where my Mama and I agreed I would be. We hightailed it out of there and as I we left, I remember people breaking the glass at the jewelry store stealing jewelry from the display cases that lined the exit area… anyway crazy night… Will never forget…
Remember it well
some of our old friends were on duty and responded
to the mall.
Because it gets asked every year (and no one has provided the answer) – there is no plaque to commemorate the disaster or its victims anywhere. The one shown in the story (and in previous years) was generated by a website.
I was there that day doing last minute Christmas shopping. The plane hit in the area right in front of Macy’s where a huge Santa display with a live Santa faced Macy’s with the up and down escalators right behind him. The temporary wall of the Santa display likely saved him from death or serious injury as the plane’s wreakage and fuel destroyed the escalators and blew out display windows in the immediate area.
I was on my way to Macy’s, but stopped briefly at one of the book stores on the lower level, just a few stores away from that central atrium, so I missed being right where the plane hit and did the most damage. I was really impressed at how quickly Mall security was able to secure the area and evacuate the mall.
We just returned home from shopping there. We stopped to see Santa on the way out from Macy’s
. We could have been in the crowd that hit by the plane. I know a lady who was burn. Her face still looks very bad after many surgeries.
ONE OF MY DEAREST FRIENDS WAS A THERAPIST ASSIGNED THRU CONTRA COSTA COUNTY. …… TO HELP THE FAMILIES INVOLVED IN THE TRAUMATIC EVENT IN THE SUNVALLY MALL…..
TO RECOVER , THRU THERAPY.
HE TOLD ME THOSE WHO WERE INVOLVED SUFFERED TERRIBLY.
THESE THERAPISTS WORKED VERY HARD TO PATIENCELY HELP THOSE INNOCENT VICTIMS.
At the time is the accident, as a 28 year-old mother of two young children, I was supposed to be at the mall at the Kinderfotos booth which was located at the bottom of the escalators from the main floor to the bottom level atrium area, to pick up my children’s Christmas pictures in time for our Christmas eve family gathering the next day. This was my last chance to get them before Christmas, as I planned to give them as gifts at our gathering and I had just enough time to make it to the booth before they closed at 9pm. My ETA to the mall that night was about 8:20 to 8:30 pm (no gps in those days) which would’ve put me there just minutes before the plane came down sometime between 8:35/8:45 pm. Suffice to say, the plane and I were on about the same time trajectory. But as I was headed down highway 4 from work in San Pablo, nearing my normal exit in Martinez that would otherwise take me home, I had sudden second thoughts about continuing on, as driving in the dense fog was perilous, nerve-racking, and so tiring after a long day’s work. As I approached that the last exit and before I even knew what was happening, I felt an overpowering desire to abort my plan and just get home, so at the very last second I exited at Alhambra Avenue, ignoring a different inner voice simultaneously warning me that my Christmas plans were ruined if I didn’t make it to that mall now!
So as I sat a minute at the light at the bottom of the exit, I debated going straight across to get back on the freeway or to make the left turn that would take me home. The light turned green and I chose the latter…or to be honest, it felt like it just chose me. I made it home empty-handed and disappointed not to have the gifts I needed for the next day. But some time after 9 pm, news reports began to come in about the tragedy that was taking place at the mall. The fireball swept through Kinderfoto and destroyed it along with so much else that night. Even today, I can’t describe the emotions of knowing that what was happening to those victims in real time could’ve also been happening to me, but at the same time, not really knowing what would’ve happened to me if I had continued on as planned. Would’ve I actually been there? Was the timing really as close as it felt? What about traffic or parking…would’ve that changed the trajectory? I didn’t know then and I don’t know now. All I do know today is that I considered it a very close call and it taught me a lesson that I’ve kept close to my heart for the past 40 years since…ALWAYS trust your gut, no questions asked.
The other takeaway that has truly shaped my life since that night is that even though I’m not one of those people with the hubris to believe that I was spared some terrible fate because I had something important to bring to the world, I did realize from this close call that we ALl should be living our lives as if we were! And so, while I always had a proclivity to giving back to the community, I purposefully made volunteerism a primary focus in my life ever since, which in the end I believe HAS made the world a little better here and there, while also making me a better person, here and there.
Yes. We were visiting my Great Uncle Allen
and Aunt. Me, my father, mother, and my toddler.
Uncle and Mark wanted to take Dad and me to
go see. Mother and Aunt stayed home with my baby.
I recall we stayed our distance and in the vehicle.
The sad details and facts of the tragedy are
presented well in the video.