{"id":150148,"date":"2022-03-12T21:15:13","date_gmt":"2022-03-13T03:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=150148"},"modified":"2022-03-12T21:15:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T17:15:26","slug":"david-burke-i-am-the-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/david-burke-i-am-the-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"David Burke: I am the Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"David
This guy was behind the second-worst episode of mass murder in California history.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

David Augustus Burke was born in 1952 to Jamaican parents living in the UK. At some point, Burke\u2019s family moved to the United States. He eventually took a job with USAir in Rochester, New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
The capacity to control one’s emotions is the single most reliable predictor of success in life. David Burke struggled with his.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Though popular with his co-workers, Burke had a penchant for violence and a mean temper. These things always seem obvious in retrospect, but David Burke was also a dangerously self-centered opportunist. Though he never married, he fathered seven children by four women. Apparently, nobody could stand living with the guy for very long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
Successful drug smugglers can make vast amounts of money. Such potentially lucrative returns bring out the worst in folks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While working for USAir, Burke purportedly used his Jamaican contacts to smuggle cocaine in from the islands through Rochester via the airline. Though he was never formally charged, this episode hopelessly sullied his reputation in New York. After 14 years in Rochester, Burke moved to Los Angeles to start afresh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Setting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"David
Air travel in the 70s and 80s was unrecognizable from what it is today. I’m digging the groovy orange go-go boots.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Burke got a job with Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) in short order. USAir had recently purchased PSA, so Burke knew the system. In 1987 Burke was working as a ticketing agent with the airline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
It has been estimated that Burke actually stole several thousand dollars from the airline. A modest $69 theft caught on camera is what finally did him in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everybody likes money, and few people ever feel like they have enough. In Burke\u2019s capacity as a ticket agent, he also helped manage the receipts from the cash transactions from these commuter flights. This meant that modest amounts of cash passed through his hands on a daily basis. $69 turned up missing, and Burke was caught on a surveillance camera taking it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
After Burke was fired his boss wished him a good day. Burke ominously responded, “Oh, I’m going to have a very good day.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After an appropriate investigation, David Burke was fired for theft. He had an impassioned meeting with his boss, Ray Thomson, wherein he attempted to gain reinstatement. However, the evidence was compelling, and rumors of his involvement with the Rochester drug ring had filtered over to the West Coast by then as well. David Burke was toast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"David
These guys mean well and work hard. However, I suspect most of the folks they catch trying to sneak prohibited items onboard airplanes are just dumb.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Security, particularly in airports, is an illusory thing. The Transportation Safety Administration posts photos of the weapons confiscated at American airports on their website. Many of them are admittedly fairly egregious. Swords, hatchets, demilled military ordnance, and handguns by the hundreds make the wall of shame. However, these are not typically wielded by bloodthirsty terrorists bent on destruction. The vast majority of the people trying to carry stuff like that onto airplanes are either stupid or forgetful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
The TSA confiscated 3,257 firearms during the airport screening process in 2020. 83% of them were loaded. That’s roughly ten guns per million passengers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"David
Some rocket scientist tried to sneak this thing onto an airplane. Maybe he was a Klingon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everybody by now should appreciate that you cannot get onto a modern commercial airplane with a machete in your carry-on. However, I carry a gun every time I\u2019m not asleep or in the shower. In America, I have plenty of company. That\u2019s one of several reasons why my tiny little Southern town is very, very safe. A certain small percentage of folks like me simply forget to leave their guns at home until it is too late. While I\u2019m sure the TSA nails the occasional rare genuine terrorist, most folks caught with guns in American airports are simply inattentive. On December 7, 1987, however, David Burke was not one of those people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Approach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"David
Human beings are tribal, and PSA was a sort of family. It just turned out that David Burke’s part of the family was fairly dysfunctional.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Burke and Thomson\u2019s daily lives orbited around the airline. Though he worked at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Ray Thomson actually maintained his home in San Francisco. PSA ran a daily flight between the two cities, and Thomson typically commuted aboard the plane every day to get to and from his workplace. This flight lasted about 72 minutes. Additionally, David Burke was a familiar face to the flight crews, maintenance staff, and security personnel. That becomes pertinent in a minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
Nowadays anybody with Photoshop can work for the Secret Service, the local hospital, the neighborhood daycare, or the CIA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

David Burke planned his crime in shocking detail. In the days immediately following his dismissal he still retained his airline credentials. Though Burke apparently did not himself own a gun, he approached a coworker and borrowed a Smith and Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver along with a handful of cartridges. Using his familiarity with the system and security measures around LAX, Burke cleared the obligatory security checkpoint without having his carry-on bag searched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
The British Aerospace 146-200A is an undeniably adorable airplane. The smiley face on the front is a nice touch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The final impediment to his gaining entrance to the airplane in question, a British Aerospace 146-200A titled The Smile of Stockton,<\/em> was a locked crew door. Unfortunately, the access code that deactivated the lock was scratched into the paint above the panel. With minimal effort, David Burke had gotten aboard the plane with his borrowed weapon intact. Also onboard were another thirty-seven passengers and five crewmembers. Among those thirty-seven passengers was Burke\u2019s manager, Ray Thomson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
David Burke used a barf bag like this as an improvised notepad.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The specifics of what happened next are drawn predominantly from conjecture and a subsequent forensic analysis. Apparently once Burke got settled into the airplane he wrote a note on an airsickness bag that said, \u201cHi Ray. I think it\u2019s sort of ironical that we end up like this. I asked for some leniency for my family. Remember? Well, I got none and you\u2019ll get none.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Crime<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"David
The resulting crash was unimaginably violent. However, both the data recorders were recovered sufficiently intact to be usable.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A detailed analysis of information taken from the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) showed that someone, presumably Burke, entered the airplane\u2019s forward lavatory. It is assumed that Burke used the opportunity to retrieve his revolver. This delay should also have given Thomson a chance to read the note scribbled on the airsickness bag. Burke then apparently approached Thomson while he was seated and shot him twice from the front. Thomson\u2019s seat was never identified, but the seat behind him was known to be vacant. It was recovered bearing two bullet holes. Apparently, the powerful .44 Magnum rounds passed through Thomson, his seat, and the next seat behind as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
It is always chilling to appreciate how terrorists can be so heartless. This is flight attendant Deborah Neil. David Burke likely knew this young lady fairly well before he murdered her along with a whole planeload of innocent people.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It would seem at this point pandemonium ensued. The First Officer reported to air traffic control that a firearm had been discharged on board the airplane. This was the crew\u2019s last transmission. According to the CVR the flight attendant, Deborah Neil, opened the cockpit door and shouted, \u201cWe have a problem!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
CPT Gregg Lindamood was likely the second person on board the plane to be targeted.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The pilot-in-command of the aircraft, Captain Gregg Lindamood, then asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s the problem?\u201d The feed from the CVR then records David Burke responding cryptically, \u201cI\u2019m the problem.\u201d There followed two more gunshots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
It is postulated that Burke killed this man, CPT Douglas Arthur, to prevent him from recovering the aircraft.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Burke apparently shot each of the flight officers once. The sound of a final gunshot was also captured on the CVR. This likely represented Burke\u2019s shooting Douglas Arthur, PSA\u2019s chief pilot in Los Angeles who was aboard the plane as a passenger. It is suspected that he was killed trying to get into the cockpit to save the aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gun<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"David
The Smith and Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum is indeed a beast of a handgun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Call me a heretic if you must, but I think the Smith and Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver is kind of ridiculous. Inspired by the esteemed gun writer Elmer Keith, the .44 Magnum round was originally intended for hunting and defense against dangerous game. In 1955 Smith and Wesson launched an N-frame revolver chambered for this manly cartridge. Two years later they adopted the formal designation Model 29. At the time the Model 29 was indeed the most powerful production handgun in the world. There the weapon languished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
It’s hard to imagine, but John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Steve McQueen, and Paul Newman were all considered and discounted or refused the role of Dirty Harry Callahan before Clint Eastwood strapped on the iconic .44 Magnum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1971 Clint Eastwood introduced the American public to Dirty Harry Callahan. A truly hard-core cop and all-around bad man, Dirty Harry packed a Model 29 .44 Magnum with a six-inch barrel in a shoulder holster. In a country awash in real crime, Harry\u2019s exploits stopping criminals on the big screen by any means necessary resonated. Gun shops couldn\u2019t keep the Model 29 in stock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
From left to right we have the .22LR, the 9mm Parabellum, the .45ACP, and the .44 Magnum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I own one of these guns myself, and I don\u2019t much care for it when stoked with full-power .44 Magnum rounds. Recoil and muzzle blast are prodigious, though the downrange performance of the .44 Magnum cannot be disputed. I killed my first whitetail wielding a Ruger rifle in this caliber. However, the Model 29 will also fire lower-powered .44 Special rounds that are pure joy on the range. Regardless of your position on magnum revolvers, the Model 29 is undeniably rugged, beautiful, and accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rest of the Story<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"David
PSA Flight 1171 broke the sound barrier before impacting the rocky California countryside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Flight Data Recorder (FDR) showed that the control column was pushed far forward. Investigators suspected that either Burke had shoved it forward or one of the pilots had slumped against it. This sordid episode began at 22,000 feet. By the time the plane impacted the ground, it was traveling 770 miles per hour or slightly faster than sound. The aircraft struck a rocky hillside at a 70-degree nose-low attitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
The dying airplane didn’t leave much of a hole in the underlying rock, but it was well and truly pulverized.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The impact area was pure stone. The massive screaming aircraft left a crater a mere two feet deep and four feet across. The decelerative force produced by the crash was on the order of 5,000 G\u2019s. The end result was simply a mess. Everyone obviously perished. Only eleven passengers were ever positively identified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
The largest pieces of the airplane were not more than a few feet long. However, investigators still gleaned a great deal of useful information from the wreckage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Amidst what little was identifiable from the plane was found the remains of a .44 Magnum revolver with a fragment of fingertip still in the trigger guard. The weapon contained six fired cartridge cases. The FBI was able to retrieve a partial fingerprint from the fragment that was positively identified as that of David Burke. It was therefore assumed that Burke had not shot himself but was rather alive and still holding the gun at the moment of impact. The details are all conjecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
The flight crew perished in the crash along with several local executives from various firms. A prominent visiting scientist from West Germany named Wolfgang Studeman died as well.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Investigators recovered the airsickness bag with the note and subsequently discovered a farewell message Burke had left on his girlfriend\u2019s answering machine. Also killed in the crash were James Sylla, the CEO of Chevron USA, along with three other senior Chevron executives. Three executives of Pacific Bell died in the crash as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
There are always lessons to be learned in sordid tragedies such as these. In the case of David Burke, he was just a horrible person with a death wish and a grudge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the aftermath of the crash, policies were changed that mandated that airline employees be subjected to the same screening processes as regular passengers. There was also a federal law enacted that mandated seizure of airline credentials immediately upon an employee\u2019s termination. All that stuff might make the less durable among us feel a little bit safer, but those in the know appreciate that such policies will only catch the stupid criminals. Your truly dedicated homicidal psychopaths like David Burke will always find a way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a>***<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Burke had a penchant for violence and a mean temper. These things always seem obvious in retrospect, but David Burke was also a dangerously self-centered opportunist. Though he never married, he fathered seven children by four women. Apparently, nobody could stand living with the guy for very long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":150154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[257,772],"tags":[132,535,102,752,636,1965,2087],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-150148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-historical-guns","8":"category-will-dabbs","9":"tag-buzz","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-feature-articles","12":"tag-historical-guns","13":"tag-history","14":"tag-mass-shooting","15":"tag-murder"},"yoast_head":"\nDavid Burke: I am the Problem<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"David Burke: I am the Problem - Will Dabbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/david-burke-i-am-the-problem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"David Burke: I am the Problem\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Burke had a penchant for violence and a mean temper. 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However, shooting guns and claiming it was work seemed like a pretty sweet hustle. As a result, Will serendipitously transformed an avocation into a vocation. Raised in the Mississippi Delta, Will flew UH1H, OH58A\\\/C, CH47D and AH1S helicopters operationally as an Army Aviator. He is SCUBA-qualified and has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 o'clock in the morning. Will has summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six times\u2026always at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains. Will has delivered sixty babies and occasionally wrung human blood out of his socks. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has three awesome adult children. Turn-ons include vintage German machineguns, flying his sexy-cool RV6A airplane, Count Chocula cereal and the movie \u201cAliens.\u201d www.word-monkey.com Experience: -Professional Writer-thousands of publishing credits for dozens of titles -Mechanical Engineer\\\/Practicing Physician -Instrument-rated Commercial Pilot -Sunday School Teacher\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.word-monkey.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/will.dabbs.9\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/drwildmanmd\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/author\\\/willdabbs\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"David Burke: I am the Problem","description":"David Burke: I am the Problem - Will Dabbs","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/david-burke-i-am-the-problem\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"David Burke: I am the Problem","og_description":"Burke had a penchant for violence and a mean temper. 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