Moffett Field, a joint-use airfield shared by NASA and the Navy in the heart of what was becoming Silicon Valley, handled a diverse mix of aircraft -- from Orion submarine hunters to NASA's high-altitude research jets. The CV-990, one of NASA's largest research aircraft, was on approach from the southeast. The P-3 Orion, a four-engine turboprop used for maritime surveillance, was converging from a different direction. In the critical seconds before impact, neither crew saw the other. The collision occurred at low altitude, giving no one aboard either aircraft time to react.

The wreckage rained down on the Sunnyvale Municipal Golf Course, a public facility surrounded by suburban neighborhoods. The timing -- a weekday afternoon -- meant golfers were on the course, though miraculously no one on the ground was killed. The CV-990 carried a crew of eleven, all NASA employees and contractors involved in research operations. The P-3 Orion carried six Navy personnel; one, Petty Officer Bruce Mallibert, survived after being found unconscious outside the wreckage by a golfer. The crash site was immediately secured by military and civilian emergency responders, and the investigation that followed examined how two aircraft under approach control could have been placed on intersecting paths.

The 1973 collision highlighted a tension that would only intensify as Silicon Valley grew: a major military and research airfield operating in an increasingly suburban environment. Moffett Field sat at the center of a booming technology corridor, surrounded by housing developments, office parks, and public recreational facilities like the golf course where the planes came down. The accident prompted reviews of approach procedures and traffic management at the field. Decades later, the Navy would close its operations at Moffett, transferring the field to NASA, and eventually Google would lease the historic hangars. But in 1973, the collision was a stark reminder that the valley's skies were contested territory.