The people of College Point narrowly escaped a potential tragedy this week when pieces began to suddenly fall from the sky. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, American Airlines flight 309 to Chicago experienced an “uncontained engine failure” shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport. The failure caused pieces of metal to shoot out of the back of the engine and onto the ground below.
The shrapnel broke windshields and damaged property in a light−industrial section of College Point. The metal fragments could just as easily have landed on a house or the heads of children heading to school a few blocks away.
This happens weeks after an airliner made an emergency landing on the Hudson River. In that case, the engine failure was caused by a flock of geese. That does not appear to be the cause of this engine failure.
The heavy air traffic at John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports leaves people in College Point and southeast Queens at risk. It is important the FAA study these engine failures and come up with a plan to protect the people living near JFK and LaGuardia.
