- In 1960, two airplanes crashed into each other above New York City.
- One of the planes crashed in Park Slope, Brooklyn, right in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
- AP photos from the crash show how devastating and unbelievable the scene was.
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On December 16, 1960, Park Slope, Brooklyn became the home of the worst aviation disaster the world had ever seen.
Two New York-bound flights from the Midwest crossed paths, one from United and one from TWA. Neither pilot reported distress, but the United plane reportedly showed signs of navigational systems malfunctioning. It was flying at 360 miles per hour when it struck the TWA plane and crashed in Brooklyn.
Here are photos from the crash site, that show what the scene looked like in 1960.
December 16, 1960 was "a distinctly new kind of catastrophe" when two airplanes collided over New York City, according to a 2010 report by The New York Times 50 years after the event.
Source: The New York Times
The tail of one of the planes landed in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, while the other landed in Staten Island, the New York Times reported.
Part of the United Airlines jet, plus debris, took over the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Sterling Place.
At first, people were in shock and didn't know what had happened. The "United" lettering still visible on the tail was their first clue.
The New York Times reported that an entire block of buildings was set ablaze by the crash, sparked by excess fuel.
At least ten buildings were destroyed by the flames.
The plane struck a church as it fell.
Source: AP
In all, 2,500 people were involved in containing the fire and helping the injured, including police, firemen, doctors, and nurses, The New York Times reported.
Residents were evacuated from apartments and shops.
The neighborhood where the plane crashed was heavily populated, and people looked on as police and firemen worked the rescue mission.
Police and firefighters searched for survivors of the wreck...
...but unfortunately, there were none, the New York Times reported.
Then, the neighborhood had to deal with the debris and wreckage.
Some residents said that they'd felt the whole street shaking.
A 25-foot piece of the wing had smashed through a brownstone, according to The New York Times.
An aerial view shows how eerie and out of place the scene looked.
The accident killed all 128 passengers aboard the airplanes as well as six bystanders in Brooklyn. At the time, it was the deadliest accident in aviation history, according to the AP.
Two days after the crash, authorities severed parts of the plane to remove it from the Brooklyn street.
One survivor from the scene was Brian Mulraney's cat, Jennie. He evacuated his building after the plane crashed across the street, then ran back in to save his cat.
