Eastern Flight 66

Eastern Airlines Flight 66, registration number N8845E was operating New Orleans-Moisant-New York Kennedy on the afternoon of June 24, 1975. The plane was carrying 124 persons aboard (116 passengers and 8 crew members).

As the flight was on its final approach into New York Kennedy at 4:05 PM EST the crew entered into a microburst or wind shear environment caused by a severe thunderstorm. As the plane continued to descend for landing with its wheels down, the plane continued down until it began striking the approach lights approximately 2,400 feet from the threshold of Runway 22L. After the intitial impact the plane banked to the left and continued to strike the approach lights until it burst into flames and scattered the wreckage along Rockaway Boulevard, which runs around the perimeter of the airport. Of the 124 passengers onboard, 109 passengers and 6 crew members died. 9 persons (7 passengers and 2 flight attendants) who were seated in the rear of the plane survived.

As the investigation progressed, it was found that 10 minutes prior to Flight 66 crashing, a DC-8 cargo jet landing on Runway 22L reported tremendous wind shear on the ground. The pilot warned the tower of the fact but flights continued to land. After the DC-8 an Eastern Airlines L-1011 landing on the same runway nearly crashed. Two more flights landed prior to Flight 66.

The final cause of the crash was determined to be Flight 66 encountering windshear on its approach and the reliance of the pilots on visual cues instead of instrument reference, which delayed their reaction to the winds. Contributing to this was the failure of New York Kennedy to close Runway 22L after the reports from the DC-8 and the L-1011