. Moran turned over to a New York City police sergeant, who drove them to the hospital. This story was written by Patrick Doyle and Harry Stathos. . Just coincidentally I was at Jfk when he landed. The first officer was 34-year-old William Eberhart, who had been with Eastern Air Lines for nearly nine years. one more hour and we'd come down whether we wanted to or not. He has burns over 25 per cent of his body and multiple fractures, mostly his ribs, but he's going to live. [1]:2, At 15:53, Flight 66 was switched to another frequency for final approach to Runway 22L. UNITED STATES - JUNE 25: Eastern Airlines 727, flight 66 at Kennedy Airport. She Was Just Found in Puerto Rico, From Haiti Through Liberty City to Top Federal Prosecutor in South Florida: the Unlikely Story of Markenzy Lapointe. Frank Ford III, now a local investment advisor, was 22 when he learned his father, Frank Ford Jr., president of Ford's Ready-Mix Concrete Co., was on Flight 212 and wasn't among the survivors. United Press International, "Jetliner Crashes in New York; 109 Killed", Last edited on 14 February 2023, at 17:56, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft, 1950 Air France multiple Douglas DC-4 accidents, "Eastern Airlines, Inc. Boeing 727-225, N8845E, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jamaica, New York, June 24, 1975", "Jet crashes at Kennedy Airport during a thunderstorm in 1975", "Study Of Network Expansion Llwas (Llwas-Ne)Fault Identification And System Warning Optimization Through Joint Use Of Llwas-Ne And Tdwr Data", Spearhead echo and downburst near the approach end of a John F. Kennedy Airport runway, New York City, "Accident Overview, Lessons Learned, Eastern Airlines B727 Flight 66 near JFK Int'l Airport", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eastern_Air_Lines_Flight_66&oldid=1139351016. Low 63F. ", The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the aircraft's encounter with adverse winds associated with a very strong thunderstorm located astride the ILS localizer course, which resulted in high descent rate into the non-frangible approach light towers. Survivors: 78: China Eastern Airlines Flight 5398 . The distraught man's body was covered with second and third-degree burns as he lay in a room on the second floor of the hospital. . The loss to our community, to the state of Louisiana, is inestimable.. ", Miss Mooney, who has been as Eastern stewardess for nine years, said: "It was a normal approach as far as I could see. The live-filmed cop show featuring Richland and Berkeley deputies, On Patrol: Live, is now on the streaming service Peacock, with the potential to reach a wider audience. One fatality, a passenger who initially survived the crash but died 9 days later, was officially recorded by the NTSB as a "nonfatal" injury. "Well its difficult, we were only married 20 days, and we were both 26 years old, and she was my first love to be honest with you. At 1551:54, the Southgate arrival controller broadcast to all aircraft on his frequency, ". As the investigation progressed, it was found that 10 minutes before Flight 66's crash, a Flying Tiger Line Douglas DC-8 cargo jet landing on Runway 22L reported tremendous wind shear on the ground. . Tragedy in the Everglades: Remembering the Crash of Eastern Airlines It was just a few minutes past Infantino and the flight attendants will meet with airline experts and the public to tell them never to become complacent. One man from Baton Rouge, La., Joseph Dispenza, whose wife, Connie, was listed as missing, was there, along with his two young daughter, Tina and Sandy, who were seriously burned in a crash. towards a row of lights. Medical team cares for Joseph DiSpenza at Jamaica Hospital burn center. Iveson B. Noland, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, and Edgar A. G. Bright Sr., a businessman and civic leader who was honored as king of the Mardi Gras celebration in 1956, the crash also took the lives of three prominent businessmen and two surgeons, among others. The airspeed was oscillating between 140 and 148 kn. Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 was a regularly scheduled flight from New Orleans to New York City that crashed on June 24, 1975 while on approach to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing 113 of the 124 people on board. [1]:2[2] At 15:35, the aircraft was told to contact the JFK approach controller for instructions, and the approach controller sequenced it into the approach pattern for Runway 22L. Read moreCharleston gives Dockside condos extension to address structural problems, The deaths mark Charleston's second and third slayings in just the first 60 days of the year. The flight crew consisted of the following: A severe thunderstorm arrived at JFK just as Flight 66 was approaching the New York City area. My name is George Gewehr and Im the FTL historian and ex President of the association. The aircraft continued its descent until it began striking the approach lights approximately 2,400 feet (730m) from the threshold of the runway. The local controller responded, "Okay, we're indicating wind right down the runway at 15 kn when you landed. :2 At 15:52, the approach controller warned all incoming aircraft that the airport was experiencing "very light rain showers and haze" and zero visibility, and that all approaching aircraft would need to land using instrument flight rules. The group will also try to raise funds for a memorial to honor those who died. The NTSB also concluded that failure of either air traffic controllers or the flight crew to abort the landing, given the severe weather conditions, also contributed to the crash: Contributing to the accident was the continued use of runway 22L when it should have become evident to both air traffic control personnel and the flight crew that a severe weather hazard existed along the approach path. We could see cars passing by. The Captain you are asking about was Jack Bliss. He had 5,063 flight hours, with 4,327 of them on the Boeing 727. :12 The flight operated from New Orleans to the New York City area without any reported difficulty. prepared to make a landing on runway 22. Eastern 66 acknowledged the transmission. I have a news paper clipping of him with an attached article to it. McQuigg and Raposa went on to continue flying, with McQuigg still working in the profession. . Read moreOn Patrol: Live featuring Richland, Berkeley deputies now streamed on Peacock, Jerry Richardson, who died March 1, graduated from Wofford College in Spartanburg in 1959 before becoming a businessman and owner of the Carolina Panthers. Most of his hair was burned off, and gauze pads covered and his eyes were nearly closed as he tried to reconstruct what had happened. . Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. "We were hanging by our seat belts. Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 | Plane Crash Wiki | Fandom Weaver plans no special remembrance today. Eastern 66 acknowledged the clearance at 1600:54.5, "Okay, we'll let your know about the conditions." However, the crashes of Pan Am Flight 759 in 1982 and Delta Air Lines Flight 191 in 1985 prompted the aviation community to re-evaluate and ultimately accept Fujita's theory and to begin researching downburst/microburst detection and avoidance systems in earnest.[8]. down and visibility was nil, nil out over the marker . The results of these analyses showed that Eastern 66 probably encountered an increasing headwind as it descended on the ILS glideslope. On August 15, 1989, an An-24 with the fuselage registration number B-3417 crashed into Zhoujiabang about 240 meters away from the airport due to engine failure when taking off at Hongqiao Airport, killing 34 people. Defeating the downburst: 20 years since last U.S. commercial jet document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = "© " + html; 39 Louisianians Died In Tuesday's Jet Crash, https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/26/archives/39-louisianians-died-in-tuesdays-jet-crash.html. This accident led to the development of the original low level wind shear alert system by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in 1976, which was installed at 110 FAA towered airports between 1977 and 1987. [1]:2 At 15:59, the controller warned all aircraft of "a severe wind shift" on final approach, and advised that more information would be reported shortly. itself for an oncoming thunderstorm. At 1602:20, the captain said, ". Flight attendants Robert Hoefler, 29 (1. would you classify that as severe wind shift, correction, shear?" James E. Fitzmorris said. WNBC-TV Eastern Flight 66 Crash Coverage, June 24, 1975 :3. The flight crew consisted of the following: A severe thunderstorm arrived at JFK just as Flight 66 was approaching the New York City area. On June 24th, 1975, a tragic aircraft accident occurred at John F. Kennedy airport in New York City , when Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 crashed, killing 113 of the 124 persons on board. Dispanza said: "I remember the pilot telling us that we were close to the airport." At 1603:12.4, the flight established communications with Kennedy tower local controller and reported that they were, "outer marker, inbound. Thirteen people survived the initial impact, including the co-pilot and one flight attendant who walked away with no serious injuries; however, three more ultimately died from severe burn injuries. Flight 212 left Charleston at 7 a.m. traveling almost due north to Charlotte's Douglas Municipal Airport and a brief stop ahead of the plane's ultimate goal, Chicago. The aircraft rapidly began to deviate below the glideslope, and 4 seconds later, the airspeed decreased from 138 kn to 123 kn in 2.5 seconds. Regret that I never knew who that DC-8 captain was, I wanted very much to contact him one day to thank him. . Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. The crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 66 at Kennedy International Airport was termed the worst aviation disaster involving residents from the New Orleans area. The NTSB describes all times in its final report using Eastern Daylight Time. Her sister, Tina, 7, and her father were taken in the mobile unit on later trips. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. As the investigation progressed, it was found that 10 minutes before Flight 66's crash, a Flying Tiger Line Douglas DC-8 cargo jet landing on Runway 22L reported tremendous wind shear on the ground. [1]:2. There's so many good things, positive things came out of Flight 401, that this plane crash can never happen again with all the safety features put on it, said Infantino. He observed airspeed fluctuations of 15 to 30 kn and at 300 feet he had to apply almost maximum thrust to arrest his descent and to strive to maintain 140 kn on his inertial navigation system groundspeed indicator. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Kleven had a total of 17,381 flight hours, including 2,813 hours on the Boeing 727. Anyone can read what you share. :46. I feel badly that we couldn't help the passengers. Egon Luftaas of Bergen, Norway, another survivor, was badly burned all over the body. Plane went down in a thunderstorm, smashing across Rockaway Blvd., and leaving a trail of bodies in its wake. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. That warning was heard by the crew of Eastern Air Lines flight 66, but it was ignored. I only caught the tail end of the TV show, I never caught his name or the airline he was flying for. When we were on the ground we were in the Tiger building and it hit us. One fatality, a passenger who initially survived the crash but died 9 days later, was officially recorded by the NTSB as a "nonfatal" injury. A partial list of others who died in the crash included Rear Adm. Charles W. Cummings, who died less than a week after his appointment as commandant of the Sixth Naval District; Wayne Seal, news director at WCIV-TV and the former press secretary to Gov. The sound of impact was recorded at 1605:11.4. DiSpenza, 40, and his daughters Sany, 9, and Tina, 7, are among survivors. [4] Investigation [ edit] Over the years I've made efforts, but nobody seemed to know. Survivors Remember Eastern Airlines Flight 401 Crash "I was sitting in the right place at the right time," said Weaver, who is celebrating 57 years of marriage this year.