In Reply to: Re: December 16, 1960, DC-8 Crash In Park Slope posted by Barbara on Sunday, December 17th 2023:

My Father, heard the crash, and on his vehicle radio, there was an announcement that motorists were warned to avoid that area. I believe that the subway service on the Brighton Beach line (the 7th Avenue station is near that crash site), was temporarily interrupted. I forgot to mention that it was a foggy day, and there was a rain/snow mist at 10,000 feet. Hence, although both pilots knew that there was another plane in the area, they did not know that they were at the same altitude, and could not see each other. In those days, the devices which we take for granted today on commercial airliners, which warn pilots, with a loud audible sound "pull up, pull up", to warn of impending collisions, would not become available for nearly twenty years. Before he died, nine year old Stephen Baltz told the rescue workers that following the crash, his plane continued to descend, and he could see the ground coming up. He didn't remember the crash, when he woke up in a snow bank; about 12 inches of snow had fallen in Brooklyn, only a few days earlier. There was a photo of him on the front page of the New York Daily News, showing pedestrians, who were trying to help him. The change that he kept in his pocket, was given by his family to Methodist Hospital. His Father was an executive (from Chicago), with Maytag. His Mother and sister had flown to NYC a few days before him. I don't know why he was flying by himself. He was a very popular boy, in his cub scout troop, at home. There was a thorough investigation by the Civil Aeronautics Board, and it made a number of recommendations, namely prohibiting any aircraft under 10,000 feet to enter a metropolitan area, in speeds in excess of 250 knots. Also, improved separation regulations of commercial aircraft were mandated. To this date, the Dec. 16, 1960 midair collision (which actually occurred over Staten Island), between two commercial airliners, is the only one in the history of commercial aviation in the USA, to have occurred over a major metropolitan area.

Reference ID: BK97154

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