By The TimesLedger
American Airlines Flight 587 was the first plane to crash into Queens soil in more than 25 years, but other flights out of Queens airports have ended with fatalities. Here is a look back on those major crashes:
February 1959: An American Airlines plane crashed into the East River, killing 65 people.
December 1960: A United Airlines DC-8 headed for Idlewild Airport (now JFK) and a TWA Constellation collided in the air during a heavy snowstorm, spreading debris over Staten Island and Brooklyn. All 128 people on board the planes and six people on the ground were killed.
March 1962: An American Airlines 707 crashed into the Jamaica Bay, killing 95 passengers.
February 1965: An Eastern Airlines DC-7B crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Jones Beach shortly after taking off from JFK. All 84 passengers were killed.
June 1975: An Eastern Airlines 727 crashed into Rockaway Boulevard while attempting to land at JFK during a thunderstorm. The crash killed 113 of the 124 passengers and seriously injured 11 others.
January 1990: An Avianca 707 from Bogota, Columbia crashed into Cove Neck, L.I. after running out of fuel while circling to wait for a landing slot at JFK. Seventy-two of the 149 people on board were killed.
July 1996: TWA Flight 800, a 747 with 230 people on board, exploded in midair and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the shore of East Moriches, L.I. shortly after taking off from JFK. There were no survivors.
September 1998: Swissair Flight 111, an MD 11 aircraft that departed from JFK, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Nova Scotia, killing 229 people.
October 1999: EgyptAir Flight 990, a 767, left JFK and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Massachusetts, killing all 217 on board.
