Talk:1960 New York air disaster
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Disaster management, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Disaster management articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. |
| ??? | This article has not yet received a rating on the quality scale. |
| ??? | This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale. |
 |
This article is within the scope of the Aviation WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see lists of open tasks and task forces. To use this banner, please see the full instructions. | ||||||||
| Start | This article has been rated as Start-Class on the quality scale. | ||||||||
|
|||||||||
I've been told (don't remember by whom) that the pilot of the United Airlines flight was trying to crash-land in Prospect Park, but was unsuccessful. On the face of it, this makes sense: the park is a few blocks farther along the path the plane would be taking from Staten Island. — Anna Kucsma 20:55, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Okay, I Googled the air crash and found one source (which, I admit, I had never heard of) which says the plane that crashed in Park Slope was indeed trying to make an emergencey landing, but at LaGuardia Airport, not Prospect Park. But Park Slope Reader (a little mare than halfway down, in the "Pillar of Fire" section) states that both potential landing-attempt sites were speculated about as such by witnesses. Neither About.com nor Infoplease said anything either way. — Anna Kucsma 16:12, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Both references I have state that the aircraft was far, far too badly damaged for the pilots to possibly have any control of the aircraft. I think laypersons often think that aircraft in distress are "trying to make an emergency landing" when quite often they're just out of control - I remember with the Greek aircraft disaster (Helios Airlines? I'm not sure off the top of my head) a few years ago some bystanders said, "He's trying to get to a safe place to ditch" but when the report came out it was clear the aircraft had been uncontrollable and the pilots were likely unconscious. Maybe it's just hope that pilots are trying to avoid crashing into ground targets. --Charlene.fic 18:25, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
46 years ago today. -- In memoriam
Perhaps some old fashioned research is needed. I have the CAB accident report and first read it when it was released in 1962.
The collision damage to the Constellation was catastrophic. The damage to the DC-8 included the loss of the No. 4 engine, the outboard right wing, and part of the leading edge of the left wing. Control, if any, was marginal. He was cleared to Idelwyld, never turned final. He was headed towards La Garbage, if that was his plan - and I can't imagine anyone passing up Idelwyld for La Garbage, he didn't make it. Odd are he just kept going until he hit.Mark Lincoln 14:28, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
[edit] New York Harbor vs. Lower New York Bay
The article currently says sections fell into New York Harbor. This is imprecise. Miller Field is on the Atlantic Ocean side of Staten Island (and is now part of Gateway National Recreation Area). The body of water on this side is called Lower New York Bay. The way it is worded it is implied that chunks fell into the body of water between Manhattan and Staten Island. However it would probably be on the far side of Staten Island. Since there might be a remote chance that as written it is correct I haven't changed it but we should find a reference to make it more precise. Americasroof 17:09, 11 August 2007 (UTC)
There is no mention in the accident report of any wreckage falling in the water.Mark Lincoln 19:19, 26 August 2007 (UTC)
