American Airlines Flight 320

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American Airlines Flight 320
Lockheed L-188A Electra, American Airlines JP6934492.jpg
An American Airlines Lockheed L-188A Electra, similar to the aircraft involved in the incident
Date February 3, 1959
Summary Controlled flight into terrain (water)
Site New York City, New York
Aircraft type Lockheed L-188A Electra
Operator American Airlines
Registration N6101A
Passengers 68
Crew 5
Fatalities 65
Injuries 8
Survivors 8

American Airlines Flight 320, registration N6101A, was a Lockheed L-188A Electra en route from Chicago Midway International Airport to New York City's LaGuardia Airport on February 3, 1959. It crashed into the East River on approach; 65 of the 73 on board died.[1] It was the first crash for the Electra, which had been introduced only recently by American Airlines. It would not be the last, however, as a series of fatal accidents over the next year would cause the aircraft to have a loss of confidence by the flying public, including two mysterious in-flight wing failures which resulted in speed restrictions and a near grounding by the FAA.[2]

The Civil Aeronautics Board (the predecessor of the NTSB) was the government agency charged with investigating airliner accidents, during that era. The CAB PROBABLE CAUSE statement:[3]

Contributing factors were.
1. Limited experience of the crew with the aircraft type;
3. Erroneous setting of the captain's altimeter;
4. Marginal weather in the approach area;
6. Sensory illusion with respect to height and attitude resulting from visual reference to the few lights existing in the approach area.[4]

Many references to Flight 320 claim that there were 72 persons on board and that there were only seven survivors. This error may be because one victim was a lap infant and did not have its own seat or ticket.

Robert Emerson was one of the victims of the crash. Dr. Emerson was a noted botanist, who discovered that plants have two distinct photosynthetic reaction centres.[5]

Herbert Greenwald was one of the victims of the crash. Mr. Greenwald was a Chicago real estate developer who developed several landmark buildings using Mies Van Der Rohe as the architect.[6]

The flight number is still used today on its Montego Bay-Miami-Dallas/Fort Worth route.

The accident took place on the same day that a plane carrying Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all three singers. (See "The Day the Music Died.")

See also[edit]


  1. ^ "New York City, NY Plane Crashes Into East River, Feb 1959 | GenDisasters ... Genealogy in Tragedy, Disasters, Fires, Floods". Retrieved 2017-04-07. 
  2. ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-188A Electra N6101A New York-La Guardia Airport, NY (LGA)". Retrieved 2017-04-07. 
  3. ^ Barletta, Ferruccio. "DOT Online Database". Retrieved 2017-04-07. 
  4. ^ AMR 320 Accident Report
  5. ^ Rabinowitch, Eugene (1961). Robert Emmerson:A biographical Memoir (PDF). Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences. p. 22. Retrieved 15 December 2015. 
  6. ^ "Lillian Greenwald: 1915 - 2007". Chicago Tribune. September 16, 2007. 

External links[edit]

Coordinates: 40°47′38″N 73°51′43″W﻿ / ﻿40.794°N 73.862°W﻿ / 40.794; -73.862