Crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 663

Date: February 8, 1965 • Location: Springfield Gardens, United States

After taking evasive action to avoid a mid-air collision just after taking off from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 84 people on board.

John F. Kennedy International Airport is the primary international airport serving the New York metropolitan area. It is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is the busiest of the three airports in the New York airport system, the sixth-busiest airport in the United States. The airport, which covers 5,200 acres (2,104 ha), is the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Nearly 100 airlines operate from JFK Airport, with nonstop or direct flights to destinations on all six permanently inhabited continents.