What happened
On February 16, 2000, at approximately 1951 Pacific standard time, Emery Worldwide Airlines, Inc. (Emery) flight 17 crashed in an automobile salvage yard in Rancho Cordova, California. The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71F, registration N8079U, was operating as a cargo flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) from Sacramento Mather Airport (MHR) to James M. Cox Dayton International Airport (DAY) in Dayton, Ohio.
The flight departed MHR at approximately 1949. Shortly after takeoff, the crew attempted to return to MHR to perform an emergency landing. During this maneuver, the aircraft crashed, resulting in 3 fatalities among the flight crew, which included two pilots and one flight engineer. The airplane was destroyed in the accident. At the time of the event, weather conditions were characterized by night visual meteorological conditions.