Crash of a Boeing 707-123 off Montauk Point: 6 killed
Date & Time:
Jan 28, 1961 at 1220 LT
Operator:
Registration:
N7502A
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
New York - New York
MSN:
17629
YOM:
1958
Flight number:
AA1502
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The four engine aircraft departed Idlewild Airport at 1157LT with a crew of six and climbed along the shore of Long Island on a training mission. 23 minutes later, the airplane christened 'Flagship Oklahoma' banked left, entered a dive and eventually crashed into the ocean five miles off shore. Few debris were found off Montauk Point and all six crew members have been killed.
Probable cause:
The exact cause of the accident could not be determined with certainty. However, it is believed that the loss of control occurred while the crew was preparing to shut down an engine to simulate a failure or was initiating a particular flying configuration requiring the deployment of the flaps at an angle of 30 ° which was the case when the aircraft struck the water surface. The assumption that two of the four engines were inoperative at the time of impact is not ruled out.
