American Airlines Flight 1 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from New York International (Idlewild) Airport in New York City to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles. During the March 1, 1962, operation of the flight, the Boeing 707 executing it rolled over and crashed into Jamaica Bay in New York City two minutes after taking off, killing all 87 passengers and eight crew members aboard. A Civil Aeronautics Board investigation determined that a manufacturing defect in the autopilot system led to an uncommanded rudder control system input, causing the accident. A number of notable people died in the crash. It was the fifth fatal Boeing 707 accident, and at the time, the deadliest. It was third of three fatal crashes during an operation of American Airlines Flight 1. Finally, this was the third fatal crash involving one of American's 707s in the New York area within a three-year period, after Flight 514 and Flight 1502.
An American Airlines Boeing 707-123B, similar to the one involved
Richard L. Conolly
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Richard Lansing Conolly was a United States Navy admiral, who served during World War I and World War II.
USS West Bridge in drydock at Brest, France, showing the two torpedo holes received in a German submarine attack on 15 August 1918
Rear Admiral Richard L. Conolly, pictured here on the right, alongside British Major General J. L. I. Hawkesworth aboard USS Biscayne, 6 September 1943.