August 31, 1986: Aeroméxico Flight 498 is descending into Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) for landing. Meanwhile, a private Piper Cherokee owned by the Kramer family takes-off from an airfield in nearby Torrance. They unwittingly enter LAX airspace but the air traffic controller doesn't notice it due to a distraction by a Grumman Tiger Flight 66R on the screen. Suddenly over the residential district of Cerritos, the Kramers' plane smashes into Flight 498's horizontal stabilizer, shearing off the top of the cockpit of the private plane and snapping half of the tail off from Flight 498. The Kramers die as a result of the impact. The badly damaged DC-9 flips inverted and plummets into the houses below. Everyone on board dies plus 15 people on the ground. The private plane falls out of the sky and crashes into a school playground.