On the 16th of December 1960, a midair collision occurred between a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 en route to Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport) in New York City and a TWA Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation descending into LaGuardia Airport. The Constellation crashed at Miller Field on Staten Island, and the DC-8 came down in Park Slope, Brooklyn, resulting in the deaths of all 128 people on both planes and six individuals on the ground. At that time, it was the deadliest aviation disaster in the world and still is the deadliest in United Airlines' history. (Not counting United Airlines Flight 175, which was a terrorist attack, not an accident, with nearly 1000 total fatalities.)
The incident is referred to as the Park Slope plane crash or the Miller Field crash, named after the locations of the impacts. It was also the first total loss and fatal accident for a Douglas DC-8.
United Airlines Flight 826, designated N8013U, was a DC-8-11 with 77 passengers and 7 crew members, flying from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago to Idlewild Airport in Queens.
Trans World Airlines Flight 266, registered as N6907C, was a Super Constellation aircraft carrying 39 passengers and 5 crew members from Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, to LaGuardia Airport in Queens.
The DC-8's flight data recorder indicated that the aircraft was 12 miles off course, descending at 3,600 feet per minute and slowing from over 400 knots to 301 knots at the time of the collision. The DC-8's starboard engine struck the Constellation just ahead of its wings, tearing a portion of the fuselage. The Constellation then entered a dive, disintegrating as it spiraled to the ground.
After the initial impact, which tore the engine from its pylon, the DC-8, having lost one engine and much of the right wing, remained airborne for an additional 90 seconds.
The DC-8 crashed into Brooklyn's Park Slope at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Sterling Place, spreading wreckage and igniting ten brownstone apartment buildings, the Pillar of Fire Church, the McCaddin Funeral Home, a Chinese laundry, and a delicatessen. Six people on the ground perished.
Aircraft No:1 Information:
Airline: Trans World Airlines
Code: TW/TWA
Aircraft: Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation
Registration: N6907C
Serial Number: 4021
Engines: Wright R-3350
First Flew: 1952
Age: 8 Years
Aircraft No: 2 Information:
Airline: United Airlines
Code: UA/UAL
Aircraft: Douglas DC-8-11
Registration: N8013U
Serial Number: 45290
Engines: P&W JT3C-6
First Flew: 1959
Age: 1 Year Old
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