Eastern Air Lines Flight 663

Eastern Air Lines Flight 663
	A Douglas DC-7 in the company's colors
Accident summary
Accident type	Loss of control after disorientation
place	10.8 weeks from ; Jones Beach State Park , New York
date	February 8, 1965
Fatalities	84
Survivors	0
Injured	0
Aircraft
Aircraft type	DC-7B
operator	Eastern Air Lines
Mark	N849D
Departure airport	JFK International Airport , New York City , New York
Destination airport	Byrd Field , Richmond , Virginia
Passengers	79
crew	5
	Lists of aviation accidents

Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 was a scheduled domestic flight from Boston , Massachusetts to Atlanta , Georgia , on February 8, 1965 after the first layover shortly after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport near Jones Beach State Park crashed in New York . The DC-7 had scheduled stopovers in New York City , Richmond , Charlotte , and Greenville . All 79 passengers and the 5 crew members on board the Douglas DC-7 of Eastern Air Lines were killed in the accident.

Investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) found that maneuvers the DC-7 crew undertook to avoid an approaching Pan Am Boeing 707 resulted in the Pilots were disoriented and therefore lost control of the aircraft.

Flight history

The Douglas DC-7 , which was used on Flight 663, made its maiden flight in 1958 and had completed around 18,500 flight hours by the day of its crash. It was flown by Captain Frederick R. Carson, 41. He was with Eastern Air Lines for 19 years and had a flying experience of 12,607 hours. Co-pilot was the 41-year-old Edward R. Dunn with 8550 flight hours, who flew for the airline for nine years. The flight engineer was Douglas C. Mitchell, 24 years old. He had flown 407 hours as a pilot and 141 hours as a flight engineer. All three had passed the necessary flight tests for the DC-7B. The two flight attendants on board were Linda Lord and Judith Durkin.

The flight from Logan International Airport in Boston , Massachusetts to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City was uneventful. The DC-7 took off under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) from Kennedy Airport at 6:20 p.m. EDT for Byrd Field (now Richmond International Airport ) in Richmond, Virginia . The take-off went normally and the air traffic controllers of the control tower prepared the handover of the DC-7 to the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) on Long Island and informed the air traffic control that the DC-7 was performing a Dutch Seven Departure . This was a departure procedure that provided a series of curves over the Atlantic Ocean to avoid flying over New York City. The New York ARTCC responded with the information that an incoming Boeing 707 , which was en route on Flight 212 of Pan American World Airways, was descending to 4,000 feet in the same airspace .

Communication between the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center and the control tower at John F. Kennedy Airport
Channel	Radio message	translation
New York Air Route Traffic Control Center	All right, at three miles north of Dutch is Clipper 212 descending to 4,000.	All right, three miles north of Dutch, Clipper 212 drops to 4000
New York Air Route Traffic Control Center	How does he shape up with that boy coming in… the guy at his 1 o'clock position?	How does he get on with the boy who walks in ... the one o'clock guy?
JFK Control Tower	We're above him.	We are above him.

Although the control tower stated that the DC-7 was flying at a higher altitude than the Boeing 707, the DC-7 was actually lower. The control tower then radioed the pilots of the 707 that another aircraft was moving in their airspace at "11 o'clock" - that is, based on a dial a little to the left - six nautical miles southeast of Pan Am, climbing at 3000 feet found. The pilots of the 707 confirmed this. Air traffic control then radioed a similar message to the DC-7, stating that the DC-7 was at 2 o'clock , five miles away, but below the DC-7. In fact, Pan Am's 707 was above DC-7, descending 5,000 feet. The flight captain Carson confirmed that he saw the other aircraft and that he was beginning to turn onto departure route D7 and logged off.

Radio communications between the airport control tower, Pan Am Flight 212 and Eastern Air Lines Flight 663
Sender (bold) receiver	Radio message	translation
JFK control tower at Pan Am 212	Traffic at 11 o'clock, six miles, southeastbound, just climbing out of three [thousand feet].	Traffic at eleven o'clock, six miles, south-east, now rising from three [thousand feet]
Pan Am 212 at JFK control tower	We have traffic.	We have [the] traffic.
JFK control tower on Eastern 663	Traffic, 2 o'clock, five miles, northeast-bound, below you.	Traffic, two o'clock, five miles, northeast, below them.
Eastern 663 at JFK control tower	OK. We have the traffic. Turning one seven zero, six six three ... good night.	OK. We got him. Turn to one seven zero, six six three ... good night.
JFK control tower on Eastern 663	Good night, sir.	Good night sir

The pilots of the DC-7 radioed “good night” at 18:25 . This radio message was the last transmission from the crashed aircraft.

crash

The night of February 8th was dark as there was no visible starry sky or moonlight, and the horizon was also not visible. When the two planes approached similar positions, their pilots had no landmarks to determine actual range or position. The curve to be flown by the DC-7 after take-off and the later left turn of the Pan-Am aircraft on the set course had led the two pilots to the illusion that the two aircraft were on a direct collision course. The Boeing rolled to the right and started a descent to avoid a collision. The DC-7 started with an extreme right turn to safely let the other aircraft pass. The master of the 707 later estimated that the two aircraft passed each other at a distance of 200 to 500 feet (60 to 150 meters), the first officer estimated the distance to be only 200 to 300 feet (60 to 90 meters).

The DC-7 could no longer be brought under control after the unusual flight maneuver and crashed into the icy water of the Atlantic Ocean, where the aircraft exploded on impact. The crew of Pan American's Boeing 707 were the first to report the crash. The pilots of another aircraft that took off a few minutes before the DC-7 for Air Canada flight 627 also passed on reports of an explosion at sea level.

Radio conversation between JFK Control Tower, Pan-Am Flight 212, and Air Canada Flight 627
Sender (bold) receiver	Radio message	translation
Pan Am 212 at JFK Control Tower	Uh ... OK. We had a close miss here. Uh… we're turning now to… Uh… three six zero and… Uh… did you have another target in this area at the same spot where we were just a minute ago?	Uh ... OK. We almost had a collision here. Uh ... we're cranking up now ... uh ... three six zero and ... uh ... did you have a different target in the area where we were just a minute ago?
JFK Control Tower at Pan Am 212	Uh ... affirmative, however, not on my scope at present time.	Uh ... positive, but not on my screen right now.
Pan Am 212 at JFK Control Tower	Is he still on the scope?	Is it still on the screen?
JFK Control Tower at Pan Am 212	No sir.	No sir.
Pan Am 212 at JFK Control Tower	It looked like he's in the Bay then, because we saw him. He looked like he winged over to miss us and we tried to avoid him, and we saw a bright flash about one minute later. He was well over the top of us, and it looked like he went into an absolute vertical turn and kept rolling.	It looks like he's in the bay because we saw him. It looked like it was rolling over the wing to avoid us, and we tried to avoid it and we saw a bright flash about a minute later. It was well above us, and it looked like it was going into a completely vertical turn and rolling on.
Air Canada 627 at JFK Control Tower	There's a big fire going out on the water here about our 2 o'clock position right now. I don't know what it is. It looked like a big explosion.	There's a big fire on the water here at our two o'clock position now. I do not know what it is. It looked like a big explosion.

After the explosion, the plane sank to the bottom of the 22-meter-deep water. Several flight crews, including those on Pan Am Flight 212, Air Canada Flight 627 and Braniff Airlines Flight 5, radioed the news of an explosion to air traffic control. The plane broke apart when it hit the water and was destroyed.

All persons on board - the 5 crew members and the 79 passengers - were killed when they hit the water.

Consequences and investigation

Fifteen ships, eleven helicopters and numerous lifeguards went to the scene of the accident in the hope of being able to help survivors. Two hours after the crash, debris began to rise to the surface at the point. Seven bodies were recovered by sunrise, and three more were discovered over the next three days.

The Navy provided sonar instruments to facilitate the search for the wreck. Another thirteen United States Coast Guard ships searched the shores of Long Island, and volunteers collected debris from a 65 km stretch of coast that was washed ashore.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has investigated the accident. The DC-7 was not required to be equipped with a flight data recorder that would automatically record all of the pilots' flight maneuvers. For this reason, the CAB relied on testimony and recordings of radio communications in its investigations and assessed the causes on the basis of experience. The CAB found that the evasive maneuvers that the pilots of the DC-7 had undertaken to avoid the Pan's oncoming aircraft had caused a loss of spatial orientation. This disorientation and the extreme evasive maneuver made it impossible for the pilots to intercept the aircraft's taxiing in the few seconds that remained before the impact on the water surface. The CAB also noted that Captain Carson had neither the time nor sufficient information to assess the DC-7's position relative to the 707 and that, given the illusion of a collision course, the captain acted correctly when he began the evasive maneuver. Initial news reports indicated that the DC-7 and 707 near collision caused the accident; however, the FAA denied the reason that there was no danger of an airborne collision. The CAB made no recommendations in its final report.

At the time, the DC-7 crash was the fifth most serious aircraft accident in the United States (now in 25th place). To date, the accident is the third most serious accident involving a DC-7 (after Caledonian Airways flight 153 and Northwest Orient Airlines flight ).

supporting documents

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Description of the aircraft accident on the Aviation Safety Network website . Retrieved December 6, 2009 (English)
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Civil Aeronautics Board, Accident Investigation Report, Douglas DC-7B, N849D, In the Atlantic Ocean 6.5 Nautical Miles South-Southwest of Jones Beach, Long Island, New York, February 8, 1965 (in English), accessed January 6, 2018
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Disasters: Good Night (English) . In: Time Magazine , February 19, 1965. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Wreckage Of Airliner Believed Found (English) (PDF). In: Toledo Blade , February 12, 1965, p. 12. Retrieved January 1, 2010. ( text only )
↑ ^a ^b ^c Ocean Is Searched Today For Plane Crash Victims (English) . In: The Free-Lance Star , February 9, 1965, p. 1. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
↑ Homer Bigart: DEBRIS IS FOUND; Ships Search Area - Eastern Plane Was on Way South 84 Lost as DC-7 Crashes Into the Atlantic Near Jones Beach. No Survivors Are Seen (English) . In: The New York Times , February 9, 1965, p. 1. Retrieved December 7, 2009. “ A massive search by surface craft and helicopters yielded not even one piece of debris for more than two hours. Then, Coast Guard cutters began finding small pieces - headrests, bits of metal, a torn maroon blazer and finally bodies. "
↑ Plane Plunge Fatal to 84 (English) . In: Eugene Register-Guard , February 9, 1965, p. 1. Retrieved December 7, 2009.

[asn-1] Description of the aircraft accident on the Aviation Safety Network website . Retrieved December 6, 2009 (English)

[cab-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Civil Aeronautics Board, Accident Investigation Report, Douglas DC-7B, N849D, In the Atlantic Ocean 6.5 Nautical Miles South-Southwest of Jones Beach, Long Island, New York, February 8, 1965 (in English), accessed January 6, 2018

[time-3] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Disasters: Good Night (English) . In: Time Magazine , February 19, 1965. Retrieved December 6, 2009.

[blade-4] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Wreckage Of Airliner Believed Found (English) (PDF). In: Toledo Blade , February 12, 1965, p. 12. Retrieved January 1, 2010. ( text only )

[star-5] Ocean Is Searched Today For Plane Crash Victims (English) . In: The Free-Lance Star , February 9, 1965, p. 1. Retrieved December 7, 2009.

[nyt-6] Homer Bigart: DEBRIS IS FOUND; Ships Search Area - Eastern Plane Was on Way South 84 Lost as DC-7 Crashes Into the Atlantic Near Jones Beach. No Survivors Are Seen (English) . In: The New York Times , February 9, 1965, p. 1. Retrieved December 7, 2009. “ A massive search by surface craft and helicopters yielded not even one piece of debris for more than two hours. Then, Coast Guard cutters began finding small pieces - headrests, bits of metal, a torn maroon blazer and finally bodies. "

[guard-7] Plane Plunge Fatal to 84 (English) . In: Eugene Register-Guard , February 9, 1965, p. 1. Retrieved December 7, 2009.