It was 50 years ago today, on December 16, 1960, that two commercial airplanes collided and rained debris and death onto Brooklyn and Staten Island. I remember it well. I was only a small child living in New Jersey, but it was Big News and I realized that it was Big News.That my father had been a pilot for Pan Am, flying the same model aircraft as one of those involved in the crash, gave the news special significance in our household.
The collision involved a Lockheed Constellation, a four-engine propeller-driven craft like those my father had flown. He enjoyed flying the "Connie," a design well-regarded by pilots.
The Constellation was struck in midair by a DC-8 jet, the first commercial jet to be involved in an air disaster. The jet fell into Brooklyn, the Constellation onto Staten Island. Everyone on board the two planes died.
Except – for one day – there was a survivor. A plucky 11-year-old boy from Chicago, who had been on board the jet. Badly burned, he was rescued, and for a day he was a media darling and a symbol of hope. But then he succumbed to his injuries. The tragedy and heartbreak were complete.
The photo shows a portion of the wing from the DC-8. It was found only recently, when excavations were being made at the Brooklyn crash site for new residential development. It is in private hands, close to the crash site, because the investigations into the crash were long ago closed and the National Transportation Safety Board does not keep or preserve such wreckage.
Of course the NTSB did not exist in 1960. It was the Civil Aeronautic Board that handled the investigations 50 years ago, but the C.A.B. is long gone.
In the photo you can see a small black rectangular label next to the red circle. The red circle is a fuel port. The label reads in part, "No. 5 Main Tank Auxiliary Fuel."
At the time this crash was the worst commercial air disaster in history. The passage of 50 years has done little to erase the memory.