Brooklyn Air Disaster, December 16, 1960

I remember first coming across a box with the label "Brooklyn Air Disaster, December 16, 1960, Scrapbook" a couple of years ago.  Of course with a title like that I had to open and view the contents.  I was shocked then to learn that there had been a plane crash on Seventh Avenue and Sterling Place, right in the middle of Park Slope Brooklyn.  Since then we have from time to time gotten reference questions asking about the exact location of the crash.  Now that the 50th anniversary is approaching this Thursday, the questions have increased.

The scrapbook in our collections is amazing, and documents the entire course of events through newspaper clippings, from December 16, 1960 -- the day the crash occurred -- to September 22, 1963.  The articles are primarily from The New York Times,  New York Post, and the now-defunct Daily Mirror.

What the New York Post called the "worst air disaster in American history," occurred when a United Airlines DC-8 jet en route to Idlewild Airport (now JFK Airport) from Chicago's O'Hare Airport and a TWA Super Constellation traveling from Dayton, Ohio, to LaGuardia Airport collided near Miller Field on Staten Island.  The TWA Super Constellation fell to the ground in Miller Field, but the United jet continued on for more than 10 miles, before crashing down at Seventh Avenue and Sterling Place in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  Between the two crashes, 134 people lost their lives .

One aspect that the scrapbook helps to capture are the myriad stories that came pouring out during the tragedy's aftermaths.   The most sensationalized story highlighted in the scrapbook was that of 11-year-old Stephen Baltz who was on the United Airlines flight bound for Idlewild.  Badly burned, but thought to be in stable condition, he was brought to the Methodist Hospital at Seventh Avenue and Sixth Street, just a few blocks away from the site of the crash.  Unfortunately, his burns were too extensive to be treated, and the boy passed away the next day, December 17th.

This Thursday, December 16, 2010, marks the 50th Anniversary of the "Brooklyn Air Disaster."  Among the many commemorations, Green-Wood Cemetery will be having a memorial service at 9:45 a.m. and unveiling an eight-foot monument in memory of all those that lost their lives that day.  Also all this week The New York Times' City Room has been running articles about the crash and its impact on the neighborhood of Park Slope.

We invite anyone interested in viewing the scrapbook to come to the library during our open hours.  We are open on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 1 to 5 p.m.  For additional information about visiting the library please consult our website.