Sep 1, 2016 2 min read

As Sept. 11 approaches, the nation turns toward remembering the victims of one of the true days of infamy in American history.

Fifteen years ago, we watched images on television and on a relatively nascent Internet in horror and disbelief, wondering how such a tragedy could unfold within the borders of our nation.

For days afterward, our way of life was altered as we mourned and feared for the future, as events of many types were postponed or canceled, as the skies were bereft of aircraft while the powers that be sorted through safety measures.

Air safety, of course, never was a guarantee, even before 9/11.

On Sept. 8, 1994, USAir Flight 427 was en route from Chicago to Pittsburgh International Airport when it went down in Hopewell Township, Beaver County, killing the 132 people aboard. Eleven of the victims lived in Upper St. Clair, including five members of the same family.

Earl Weaver III, 50, and his wife, Kathy 44, were traveling with Brian, 16; Lindsay, 11; and Scott, 7. They became the focus of an October 1994 People magazine feature, which notes that they were returning from another tragedy, the funeral of Kathy’s 9-year-old nephew.

In a case of heartbreaking coincidence, the article states, Earl and Kathy had met 24 years before on an airplane.

Another sad story involves a pair of Peters Township residents, William C. Peters, 54, and Lee Scott Blake, 34. Both were supposed to leave Chicago later, according to family members, but they decided to board Flight 427 instead.

Blake’s family members subjected to confusion about whether he was actually on the downed plane, with the airline at first saying he was on board, then not. His presence finally was confirmed the morning after the crash.

Certainly, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, qualify as a tragedy that shook the entire United States and, in many ways, continues to do so.

The tragedy of Sept. 8, 1994, shook Western Pennsylvania in a way that everyone hopes is never remotely approached again.