47 Years Later - TWA/United Collision over NYC

[PhilDernerJr]

Dec. 16, 1960 - A TWA Constellation and a United DC-8 collided at 5,200 over Staten Island, sending the TWA aircraft down at Miller Field, while the United aircraft came to Earth in Park Slope.

In the end, 128 people and 6 on the ground were killed. One a 11-year-old boy, survived the initial crash, but died later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_New_York_air_disaster

That Wikipedia link has some good information that you might not find in typical articles about the tragedy. However, I'm sure with many local people and folks in the industry on this site, maybe some more knowledge can be shared about this sad day.

[Matt Molnar]

On December 16, 1960, a United Airlines DC-8 enroute to Idlewild Airport wandered off course and collided with a TWA Super Constellation on approach to La Guardia Airport. The Connie crashed into a field in the New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island, while the DC-8 sputtered another 8 miles until it plummeted to the ground in Park Slope, Brooklyn. All 127 souls on both planes were killed as well as 5 people on the ground in Brooklyn, making it the worst aviation disaster the world had ever seen.



Civil Aeronautics Board report: http://aviation-safety.net/database/rec ... 19601216-1
Staten Island Advance looks back: http://www.silive.com/news/advance/inde ... thispage=1
Dec. 17, 1960 edition of the Oswego Palladium-Times: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/freepdf ... g=18661097

[LGA777]

I have seen erie photo's somewhere of the Park Slope neighborhood shorty after the accident with the mostly intact UA DC-8 tail sitting in the middle of the street. Very sad day for NYC and commerical aviation.

RIP to all who where lost that day.

LGA777

[Matt Molnar]

My dad grew up in New Dorp...didn't see the crash, but a couple days later he found a piece of one of the planes on the roof while he was cleaning the gutters or something.

[Delta777LR]

Ive seen some of the pictures of the crash of UA 826 at Air Disaster.com

[LGA777]

Here is a link to 6 photo's. 5 of the DC-8 and one if the Connie.

http://www.airdisaster.com/photos/ua826/photo.shtml

Regards

LGA777

[Idlewild]

The United crashed on the intersection of Sterling Pl. and 7th Ave, ironically enough in front of McFadden Funeral Home. I believe this particular crash gave birth to the FAA mandating that no flights were to fly faster than 211kts below 11,000 ft (?).

I met a nun who used to work at St. Augustine's church on Park Place and 6th Ave during the accident. She told me when she looked overhead at the jet, it knocked off part of the steeple, she could make out some terrified faces looking out of the passenger windows.

[PhilDernerJr]

I would think the plane would be moving too fast to be able to see faces while it's plummeting.

I don't know if that was the FAA regulation that became afterwards, but I know a couple things were changed following this accident.