Eastern Airlines Flight 66 Strikes Rockaway Boulevard 

Eastern Air Lines Flight 66, a Boeing 727-225 with registration number N8845E, departed from New Orleans Moisant Field, bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport on the afternoon of June 24, 1975. The aircraft carried 124 persons aboard including 116 passengers and 8 crew.

As the aircraft was on its final approach into New York Kennedy at 4:05 p.m. EST, the crew entered into a microburst or wind shear environment caused by a severe thunderstorm. The aircraft continued its descent until it began striking the approach lights approximately 2,400 feet from the threshold of Runway 22L. After the initial impact the aircraft banked to the left and continued to strike the approach lights until it burst into flames and scattered the wreckage along Rockaway Boulevard, which runs around the perimeter of the airport. Of the 124 people onboard, 106 passengers and 6 crew members died. Ten passengers and 2 flight attendants, who were seated in the rear of the aircraft, survived. One surviving passenger died 9 days later from injuries sustained in the accident.

At the time, it was the deadliest plane crash in the history of the United States until the September 25, 1978 crash of PSA Flight 182 in San Diego.
American Basketball Association player Wendell Ladner was among those killed in the crash.

As the investigation progressed, it was found that 10 minutes prior to Flight 66 crashing, a Flying Tiger Line Douglas DC-8 cargo jet landing on Runway 22L reported tremendous wind shear on the ground. The pilot warned the tower of the fact but other aircraft continued to land. After the DC-8, an Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-1011 landing on the same runway nearly crashed. Two more aircraft landed prior to Flight 66. According to the conversation recorded by the Cockpit Voice Recorder, the Captain of Flight 66 was aware of reports of severe windshear on the final approach path (which he confirmed by radio to the Final Vector controller) but decided to press on nonetheless.

On the anniversary of a major airline accident that occurred almost a quarter of a century ago, the issues of thunderstorm avoidance have not changed. Although the technology has improved, pilots should be as cautious as ever.

On June 24, 1975, Eastern Air Lines Flight 66, a Boeing 727-225 on a flight from New Orleans, arrived in the New York City terminal area, bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport. There was nothing on the automatic terminal information service (ATIS) to indicate any particular problem: "Kennedy weather, VFR, sky partially obscured, estimated ceiling 4,000 broken, five miles with haze. Wind 210 at 10, altimeter 30.15. Expect vectors to an ILS Runway 22L, landing Runway 22L, departures are off 22R...."