ACurtiss C-46 Commando operating for US Airlines, leased from theUSAF, a cargo flight with two occupants inbound fromRaleigh-Durham International Airport, crashed 4.4 miles north of Idlewild tower in heavy rain and overcast conditions at the intersection of 169 Street and 89th Avenue in Jamaica,Queens, New York. Both occupants were killed and three on the ground also died. Cause of the accident was a loss of control following a sudden engine failure caused by a deteriorated fuel feed valve during an attempted missed approach.[1]
Linee Aeree Italiane Flight 451, aDouglas DC-6, crashed on its fourth approach attempt to land at Idlewild, after circling for 2.5 hours. Twenty-six of the 32 passengers on board were killed.[3]
Aeronaves de México Flight 401, aDouglas DC-8-21 with 97 passengers and 9 crew on board bound for Mexico City, crashed and burned after aborting takeoff from Runway 07R in marginally bad weather, there was snow on the runway, 4 crew members were killed.[5]
New York Airways Flight 600, aBoeing Vertol 107 helicopter, crashed shortly after takeoff from Idlewild Airport (now JFK) en route toNewark via Wall Street. All three passengers and all three crew members died. The accident was blamed on a mechanical failure due to contaminated lubricants.[7]
Trans International Airlines Flight 863, a DC-8-63CF ferry flight toDulles International Airport, crashed on takeoff from runway 13R, killing all 11 crew members on board. TheDC-8 freighter started rotating in a nose-high attitude 1,500 feet (460 m) into the take-off. After becoming airborne at 2,800 feet (850 m) down the runway, the aircraft climbed to about 300–500 feet, rolled 20 degrees to the left, crashed and caught fire. The loss of pitch control was caused by the entrapment of a pointed, asphalt-covered object between the leading edge of the right elevator and the right horizontal spar web access door in the aft part of the stabilizer.
Loftleiðir IcelandicDouglas DC-8 (registered N8960T) was damaged in a tail-first landing atJohn F. Kennedy International Airport, when it completedFlight 509 on theStockholm-Oslo-Reykjavík-New York route with 119 passengers and nine crew members on board. AnNTSB investigation found that the accident was caused by a flawed procedure when thespoilers were extended (right after touchdown rather than once the landing gear had been lowered).[9]
Overseas National Airways Flight 032, aMcDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, struck a flock of sea gulls during takeoff, crashing past Taxiway Z. All 129 passengers and 10 crew members escaped successfully while the aircraft was destroyed. The cause of the accident was determined to have been seagulls, which struck the landing gear and the right engine, resulting in an uncontained engine failure.
Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 901, aMcDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 with 163 passengers and 14 crew on board arriving from Oslo, Norway overran runway 4R on landing in low visibility and wound up in shallow water 200 meters from the end of the runway, injuring 12 passengers. The cause of the accident was the crew's failure to monitor their airspeed and overreliance on the aircraft's autothrottle. Although substantially damaged, the plane was later repaired and returned to service.
Avianca Flight 52, aBoeing 707-321B arriving from Bogotá and Medellin, crashed atCove Neck,Long Island, after a missed approach to runway 22L at JFK and subsequently running out of fuel. 73 passengers and crew perished while 85 survived.[10]
TWA Flight 843, aLockheed L-1011 TriStar departing for San Francisco, aborted takeoff shortly after liftoff. There were no fatalities among the 280 passengers and 12 crew, although the aircraft was destroyed.[11]
Lufthansa Flight 592, anAirbus A310 from Frankfurt, was hijacked by an Ethiopian man seeking asylum in the United States, landed at JFK. The hijacker surrendered.
Egyptair Flight 990 was aBoeing 767-300ER that crashed 200 miles east of JFK after departing, while en route toCairo, Egypt, killing all 217 occupants on board. TheNTSB joined with theFBI and ECAA. the NTSB determined the probable cause was the result of the aircraft's departure from cruise and subsequent impact with the Atlantic Ocean, as a result of the first officer's intentional inputs. However, the ECAA´s final report stated the probable cause to be a mechanical malfunction in the aircraft's elevator. Both sides disputed this.[12]
Air France Flight 007, operated with an Airbus A380, collided withDelta Connection Flight 6293, aBombardier CRJ 701, while the Airbus was taxiing for takeoff from JFK.[14] None of the passengers or crew members on either airplane were injured.
In December 2014, Cho Hyu-ah, the daughter of the then Korean Air chairman, Cho An, ordered the pilot of a Korean Air to taxi back to the gate. The reason for this is theflight attendant had served peanuts to her in packaging as opposed to on a plate. Cho was later arrested by authorities and later resigned. Later it was found out that Cho acted the same way on another flight in 2013.[15]
Aeroflot Flight 102, a passenger flight with the plane tail number of VQ-BIL coming fromMoscow to New York, received a bomb threat that caused the temporary closure of a runway and the delay of Aeroflot Flight 103, a return flight back to Moscow. The bomb threat in question was published from aTwitter account that was compromised byhackers with the aliases of "Omnipotent" and "choonkeat".[17][18]
ITA Airways Flight 611, anAirbus A330-202 (Registration EI-EJL) made contact withAir France Flight 008, aBoeing 777-228ER (Registration F-GSPQ) during taxi for takeoff atNew York-JFK International Airport. At the time the flight crew of AFR008 had stopped with the parking brake set while waiting for the gate personnel to finish preparing gate 9 to receive their flight at Terminal 1. About the time the tug arrived, the crew said they felt the airplane move due to a "hard connection", but they were unaware of an airplane passing behind at that time. Maintenance informed the flight crew of damage to the elevator, and it was determined to be from the ITA Airways A330 that had passed behind. TheAir France flight crew said they tried to contact the Air Traffic Control to stop the ITA Airways flight, but the ITA Airways flight 611 took off without receiving notification of the collision. On the Departure,New York TRACON controllers informed AZ611, reporting: "Another aircraft on the ground currently, Air France, said you hit them or something of that nature while you were taxiing. Did you experience any damage to the aircraft?" TheITA Airways pilot responded "Negative, sir." The flight continued to Rome and landed uneventfully; F-GSPQ was ferried to Paris on July 12.[19]
A near-collision occurred whenAmerican Airlines Flight 106 crossed Runway 4L whileDelta Air Lines Flight 1943 was using it for takeoff. After being warned by the air traffic controllers, Flight 1943 successfully aborted its takeoff after slamming on the brakes and stopped 1,000 feet (330 yd; 300 m) away from the intersection.[20][21] The flight returned to the gate and was delayed overnight. The NTSB determined that the American Airlines crew were instructed to taxi to 4L via B, and hold short of Kilo. The Ground Controller then gave AAL106 clearence to cross 31L at Kilo. They read this back. Instead, the AAL crew kept going on Juliet and crossed 4L. The ASDE-X system in the Kennedy Tower cab alerted the Local Controller to a safety alert.[22] The NTSB determines the probable cause to this incident is the loss of situational awareness of the AAL 106 crew. Contributing factors include the failure of the Ground controller not noticing the deviation of taxi, timing of the runway safety light system. The FAA issued multiple recommendations to prevent an incident like this.[23]
Afteran earthquake in central New Jersey about 50 miles west of JFK, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily stopped all New York and North Jersey airport operations for two hours.[27]
17 April
ASWISS flight bound toZurich had to cancel their takeoff in order to prevent acollision after four other aircraft, belonging toAmerican Airlines,Delta andRepublic, were cleared to cross runway 4L while the Swiss flight was departing on it. With the ATC not aware of it, they gave Delta flight DL668 clearance to land on 4L, while the SWISS A330 was still on it.[28]
24 July
A fire broke out in Concourse C of Terminal 8 at 7 in the morning when an escalator caught fire, sending smoke through the terminal. Ten were injured and the terminal was evacuated, with flights being canceled. Operations resumed an hour after the fire was extinguished.[29]
