On December 16, 1960, a United Air Lines Douglas DC-8 heading for Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport) in New York City collided in midair with a TWA Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation descending toward LaGuardia Airport. The Constellation crashed on Miller Field in Staten Island and the DC-8 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, killing all 128 aboard the two aircraft and six people on the ground. The accident was the world's deadliest aviation disaster at the time, and remains the deadliest accident in the history of United Air Lines. (United Airlines Flight 175, with close to 1,000 total deaths, is excluded as an accident flight, due to being a terrorist attack.)

The accident became known as the Park Slope plane crash or the Miller Field crash after the two crash sites. The accident was also the first hull loss and first fatal accident involving a Douglas DC-8.

Aircraft and crews

thumb|left|The [[Empennage|tail assembly of N8013U, the Douglas DC-8 involved in the collision.]]

United Air Lines Flight 826, Mainliner Will Rogers, registered as was a DC-8-11 carrying 77 passengers and 7 crew members from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago to Idlewild Airport in Queens. The crew consisted of Captain Robert Sawyer (age 46), First Officer Robert Fiebing (40), Flight Engineer Richard Pruitt (30) and four stewardesses. Captain Sawyer was a highly experienced pilot, having accumulated 19,100 flight hours, of which 344 were in the DC-8. First Officer Fiebing had accumulated 8,400 flight hours, of which 416 were in the DC-8. Flight Engineer Pruitt had accumulated 8,500 flight hours, of which 379 were in the DC-8. Star of Sicily sister ship N6902C, Star of the Seine, was destroyed in another mid-air collision with a United Air Lines flight in 1956.

Background

thumb|left|Flight paths of the two aircraft

At 10:21 a.m. EST, United 826 advised ARINC radio that one of its VOR receivers was inoperative, and the message was relayed to United Air Lines maintenance. However, air-traffic control (ATC) was not informed that the aircraft had only one operational receiver, which presented difficulty for the pilots of flight 826 to identify the PRESTON intersection, beyond which it had not received clearance.

At 10:25 a.m., ATC issued a revised clearance for the flight to shorten its route to the PRESTON holding point (near Laurence Harbor, New Jersey) by . That clearance included holding instructions (a standard "racetrack" holding pattern) for Flight 826 when it arrived at the PRESTON intersection. Flight 826 was expected to reduce its speed before reaching PRESTON to a standard holding speed of or lower. However, the aircraft was estimated to be traveling at when it collided with the TWA plane, several miles beyond the PRESTON clearance limit.

During the investigation, United Air Lines claimed that the Colts Neck VOR beacon was unreliable. PRESTON was the point where airway V123—the 050-radial off the Robbinsville VOR—crossed the Solberg 120-degree radial and the Colts Neck 346-degree radial. However, the Civil Aeronautics Board's final report found no problem with the Colts Neck VOR.

The prevailing conditions were light rain and fog, which had been preceded by snowfall.

Collision and ground impacts

thumb|left|The crash site of the TWA Super Constellation, TWA 266, in [[Miller Field (Staten Island)|Miller Field, Staten Island.]]

According to the DC-8's flight data recorder, the aircraft was off course, and for 81 seconds it descended at while slowing from more than to at the time of the collision.

One of the DC-8's starboard engines struck the Constellation just ahead of its wings, tearing apart a portion of the fuselage. The Constellation entered a dive, with debris continuing to fall as it disintegrated during its spiral to the ground.

The initial impact tore the DC-8's engine from its pylon. Having lost one engine and a large part of the right wing, the DC-8 remained airborne for another 90 seconds.

The DC-8 crashed into the Park Slope section of Brooklyn at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Sterling Place (), scattering wreckage and setting fire to ten brownstone apartment buildings, the Pillar of Fire Church, the McCaddin Funeral Home, a Chinese laundry and a delicatessen. Six people on the ground were killed.

Investigation

thumb|upright|Front page of [[The Post-Standard|Syracuse Post-Standard on 17 December 1960]]

The likely cause of the accident was identified in a report by the US Civil Aeronautics Board: