1964 62 years ago Historical Events May 7 3 sources

Pacific Airlines Flight 773 is hijacked by Francisco Gonzales and crashes in Contra Costa County, California, killing 44.

On May 7, in the year 1964, Pacific Airlines Flight 773 is hijacked by Francisco Gonzales and crashes in Contra Costa County, California, killing 44. This event is recorded as a Historical Events event in the history of May 7, one of 309 recorded events on this date across all of history.

Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 was a Fairchild F27A Friendship airliner that crashed on May 7, 1964, near San Ramon, California, a suburb in the East Bay, east of Oakland. The crash was most likely the first instance in the United States of an airliner's pilots being shot by a passenger as part of a murder–suicide. Francisco Paula Gonzales, 27, shot both pilots before turning the gun on himself, causing the plane to crash, killing all 44 aboard.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on May 7, 1964 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Historical Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 3 Wikipedia articles.
  • The event is associated with a specific geographical location (see map below).
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 1 March 2026.

On This Date in History 309

Type Year Date Event
Historical Events 2025 May 7 The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force conduct surgical strikes code-named Operation SINDOOR on terrorist hideouts in
Notable Deaths 2024 May 7 Steve Albini, American musician, record producer, audio engineer, and music journalist (born 1962)
Historical Events 2023 May 7 2023 Tanur boat disaster, At least 22 people are killed when a boat carrying tourists capsizes in Tanur, Malappuram, Ker
Notable Deaths 2023 May 7 Aase Foss Abrahamsen, Norwegian writer (born 1930)
Selected Events 2023 May 7 A tourist boat capsized, killing at least 22 people in Tanur, India
Notable Deaths 2015 May 7 Frank DiPascali, American businessman (born 1956)
Notable Deaths 2015 May 7 John Dixon, Australian-American author and illustrator (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2014 May 7 Neville McNamara, Australian air marshal (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2014 May 7 Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic (born 1943)
Notable Deaths 2014 May 7 Dick Welteroth, American baseball player (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2013 May 7 Ferruccio Mazzola, Italian footballer and manager (born 1948)
Notable Deaths 2013 May 7 George Sauer, Jr
Notable Deaths 2012 May 7 Sammy Barr, Scottish trade union leader (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2012 May 7 Ferenc Bartha, Hungarian economist and politician (born 1943)
Notable Deaths 2012 May 7 Dennis E
Notable Deaths 2011 May 7 Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer (born 1957)
Notable Deaths 2011 May 7 Willard Boyle, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1924)
Notable Deaths 2011 May 7 Big George, English songwriter, producer, and radio host (born 1957)
Notable Deaths 2011 May 7 Victor Nosach, Soviet historian (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2010 May 7 Adele Mara, American actress, singer and dancer (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2010 May 7 Wally Hickel, American politician, Governor of Alaska and Secretary of the Interior (born 1919)
Selected Events 2010 May 7 A draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome was published, demonstrating that today's humans have Neanderthal ancestors
Notable Deaths 2009 May 7 David Mellor, English designer (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2009 May 7 Danny Ozark, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1923)
Selected Events 2009 May 7 Police in Napier, New Zealand, began a 40-hour siege of the home of a former New Zealand Army member who had shot at off
Notable Deaths 2007 May 7 Isabella Blow, English magazine editor (born 1958)
Notable Deaths 2007 May 7 Diego Corrales, American boxer (born 1977)
Notable Deaths 2007 May 7 Octavian Paler, Romanian journalist and politician (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2007 May 7 Yahweh ben Yahweh, American cult leader, founded the Nation of Yahweh (born 1935)
Notable Deaths 2006 May 7 Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (born 1943)
Notable Deaths 2006 May 7 Joan C
Notable Deaths 2005 May 7 Tristan Egolf, American author and activist (born 1971)
Notable Deaths 2005 May 7 Peter Rodino, American captain and politician (born 1909)
Notable Deaths 2005 May 7 Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer (born 1980)
Historical Events 2004 May 7 American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamist militants
Notable Births 2004 May 7 Ashlyn Krueger, American tennis player
Notable Births 2004 May 7 Minji, South Korean singer
Notable Deaths 2004 May 7 Waldemar Milewicz, Polish journalist (born 1956)
Historical Events 2002 May 7 An EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 crashes on approach to Tunis–Carthage International Airport, killing 14 people
Historical Events 2002 May 7 A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people
Notable Births 2002 May 7 Jake Bongiovi, American model and actor
Notable Births 2002 May 7 Andrew Barth Feldman, American actor and singer
Notable Deaths 2001 May 7 Jacques de Bourbon-Busset, French author and politician (born 1912)
Historical Events 2000 May 7 Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia
Notable Deaths 2000 May 7 Douglas Fairbanks, Jr
Historical Events 1999 May 7 Pope John Paul II travels to Romania, becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since th
Historical Events 1999 May 7 Kosovo War: Three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft inadvertently bombs the Chinese embass
Historical Events 1999 May 7 In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup
Notable Births 1999 May 7 Tommy Fury, English boxer
Notable Births 1999 May 7 Cody Gakpo, Dutch footballer

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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