On November 12, 2001, a deadly plane crash occurred in New York City, killing 265 people, including all 260 on board and five others on the ground. American Airlines Flight 587, bound for Santo Domingo, encountered severe turbulence soon after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The aircraft's first officer reacted to the turbulence from another jet by heavily adjusting the rudder and mistakenly stressed the vertical stabiliser. This led to its separation from the Airbus A300, causing a loss of control and a fatal crash in Belle Harbor, Queens.
People initially feared that the incident was another terror attack following the 9/11 deadly attack, however, the crash was later attributed to a design flaw and pilot error by the National Transportation Safety Board. The tragedy greatly affected New York's Dominican community, as most passengers were Dominicans returning to visit their families.
This incident remains the second-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history, following the American Airlines Flight 191 disaster in 1979.
Other key events on this day
1. South Africa suspended from United Nations General Assembly over racial policies - 1974
2. Adolf Hitler arrested for attempt to seize power in Germany - 1923
3. The first underwater tunnel, Holland Tunnel connecting New York to New Jersey, opened - 1927
4. Earthquake killed 700 in Duzce, Turkey - 1999
5. Dili Massacre: about 250 pro-independence protesters were shot at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili by Indonesian soldiers - 1991
6. Coup occured in Lesotho, Justin Metsing Lekhanya ousted King Moshoeshoe II - 1990
7. First images of a solar eclipse taken from space - 1966
8. Japanese Prime Minister, Hideki Tojo, sentenced to death by war crimes tribunal - 1948
9. Lee Kuan Yew and others formed the People's Action Party (PAP) in Singapore - 1954
10. Former US First lady, Michelle Obama, publishes her memoir "Becoming" - 2018.
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