American Airlines Flight 587
 | |
| Date | 12 November 2001 |
|---|---|
| Location | New York City, USA |
| Deaths | 265 |
| Description | A catastrophic plane crash in New York City exactly two months and one day after 9-11. |
Exactly two months and one day after 9-11, New York City saw another huge air disaster, but this event has been memory holed. American Airlines Flight 587 was the second-deadliest aviation accident in American history. The plane was flying to the Dominican Republic before suddenly falling out of the sky onto a residential area.
Official narrative
Shortly after take-off from John F. Kennedy International Airport, the plane crashed into the suburban Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, demolishing many houses around the intersection of Newport Avenue and Beach 131st Street in the neighbourhood of Belle Harbor. All 260 people aboard the plane (251 passengers and 9 crew members), as well as one dog in the cargo hold, died in the crash. Five bystanders and one dog on the ground were also killed.
The incident happened only 2 months after 911, and at first was a suspected terrorism incident; later it was officially blamed on pilot error.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) attributed the disaster to the first officer's overuse of rudder controls in response to wake turbulence from a preceding Japan Airlines Boeing 747-400 that took off minutes before it. According to the NTSB, the aggressive use of the rudder controls by the first officer stressed the vertical stabilizer until it separated from the aircraft. The airliner's two engines also separated from the aircraft before impact due to the intense forces.[1][2]
In 2021, looking at Newport Ave & Beach 131 St, Queens, NY 11694, USA on Google Maps, it is impossible to tell that anything ever happened there.
Further reading
