Mayor Eric Adams, New York City officials, family members, and friends held a solemn memorial service commemorating the victims of the tragedy of American Airlines Flight 587, which crashed in Queens on Nov. 12, 2001.
The group gathered at Flight 587 Memorial Park, located at 200 Beach 116th St. Rockaway Park, on Tuesday, Nov. 12, to reflect on the 23rd anniversary of the tragic event.
The event began with an invocation led by Teresita Corporan, who lost two family members in the tragic incident. Corporan gave a tearful account of how the loss of her father and sister still impacts her 23 years later.
“I was 14 years old when I lost my father, Danilo Corporan, and my sister, Janet Marie Corporan, to flight 587. Growing up, I was asked when did you get over it, meaning when did I stop mourning, and the truth is 23 years later, I still mourn the loss of my father and sister,” Corporan said. “Losing a parent isn’t something that you can just get over; it is a pain that remains in the back of your heart, and every once in a while, you will feel a pinch that reminds you that they’re still there and reminds you of who they once were.”
After Corporan’s remarks, audience members held a moment of silence in memory of the victims of American Airlines Flight 587.
The names of each victim were then read out loud by NYPD corrections officers Kenya Oliver and Denise Aziz, Christian M. Santana, LaGuardia Base President of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, and Nathaniel Henosa Martinez, LaGuardia Base Vice President of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.
Adams then consoled the families who lost loved ones during the crash.
“The pain does not dissipate over 20-something years. It is still as fresh and as new to the family members who feel the loss. It is so important that we read over the names because it allows us to hold onto those memories. They are more than an assembling of letters and characters, but they are who we held on to and who we knew,” he said.
Adams touched on how the tragic incident was deeply painful for New Yorkers as it occurred just weeks after Sept 11. “ Flight 587 will always be remembered weeks after the September 11 attack. We were still mourning the death and loss of so many people,” he said. “To find out right here in this community of Bell Harbor, a simple trip en route to the Dominican Republic had to experience such a devastating loss to the Dominican community here in the city, but also to every New Yorker.”
Adams closed his remarks by telling family members they are not alone in their grieving.
“We’re here today as a constant reminder of those that we lost…and for those who are holding the photos and feeling the tears and feeling the pain of this constant reminder, I want to say that we’re with you, we mourn with you, we remember with you and we stand with you,” Adams said.
Attendees then placed flowers at the memorial site to honor their loved ones.
As New York City was still recovering from the tragic events of Sept 11, 2001, Nov. 12 brought more despair when Flight 587 crashed into the Belle Harbor section of the Rockaways. Five minutes after taking off from JFK International Airport, the 260-passenger flight en route to the Dominican Republic crashed, killing everyone on board as well as five people on the ground. Investigators later determined that a broken rudder was to blame after the pilot hit the wake turbulence of a preceding jet and lost control of the aircraft.
To commemorate the innocent lives lost during the tragedy of Flight 587, the New York City Parks Department unveiled a memorial dedicated to the victims of the crash in 2006. Freddy Rodriguez, a New York Artist from the Dominican Republic, and Sity Studio LLC designed the commemorative wall and landscaped plaza.
