American Airlines Flight 320

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**American Airlines Flight 320**
Summary
Date	February 3, 1959
Type	Controlled flight into terrain (water)
Site	New York City, New York
Fatalities	65
Injuries	8
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lockheed L-188A Electra
Operator	American Airlines
Tail number	N6101A
Passengers	68
Crew	5
Survivors	8

American Airlines Flight 320, registration N6101A, was a Lockheed L-188A Electra en route from Chicago Midway International Airport to New York City's LaGuardia Airport on February 3, 1959. It crashed into the East River on approach; 65 of the 73 on board died. It was the first crash for the Electra, which had been introduced only recently by American Airlines.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (the predecessor of the NTSB) found that the probable cause of the accident was the decision to descend below landing minimums prematurely. This was the result of the crew's preoccupation with particular aspects of the aircraft and its environment, which caused the crew to neglect essential flight instrument references such as attitude, altitude, and height above the approach surface. The Board also identified the following contributing factors:

Limited experience of the crew with the aircraft type;
Faulty approach technique in which the autopilot was used in the heading mode to or almost to the surface;
Erroneous setting of the captain's altimeter;
Marginal weather in the approach area;
Possible misinterpretation of altimeter and rate of descent indicator; and
Sensory illusion with respect to height and attitude resulting from visual reference to the few lights existing in the approach area.

Many references to Flight 320 claim that there were 72 persons on board and that there were only seven survivors. This error may be due to the fact that one victim was a lap infant and did not have its own seat or ticket.

The flight number is still used today on its Portland-Dallas/Ft. Worth route.

The accident took place on the same day that a plane carrying Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Richie Valens crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all three singers. (See "The Day the Music Died.") In many newspapers (including the New York Times), the crash of Flight 320 pushed the singers' plane crash off the front pages.