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American Airlines Flight 320

1959 in New York CityAccidents and incidents involving the Lockheed L-188 ElectraAirliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot errorAirliner accidents and incidents in New York CityAmerican Airlines accidents and incidents
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1959Aviation accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrainFebruary 1959 events in the United StatesLaGuardia Airport
Lockheed L 188 Electra N6101A 54641216
Lockheed L 188 Electra N6101A 54641216

American Airlines Flight 320 was a scheduled flight between Chicago Midway International Airport and New York City's LaGuardia Airport. On February 3, 1959, the Lockheed L-188 Electra performing the flight crashed into the East River during its descent, killing 65 of the 73 people on board. Poor weather conditions at the destination meant that the crew had to descend through dense clouds and fog, but the aircraft flew lower than the pilots intended and it crashed into the icy river 4,900 feet (1,500 m) short of the runway at a speed of 140 knots (160 mph; 260 km/h). American Airlines had been flying the type of aircraft in commercial service for only about two weeks before the accident. Eyewitnesses to the accident reported that the aircraft was flying significantly lower than was normal for planes approaching the airport, while surviving flight crew members claimed that the aircraft's instruments had told them that the flight was operating at safe altitudes right up to the moment of impact. An investigation by the Civil Aeronautics Board concluded that mistakes by the flight crew, the flight crew's inexperience flying the type of aircraft, and poor weather conditions were the causes of the crash. The conclusion was challenged by the Air Line Pilots Association, who felt that the crash was caused by faulty instruments and poor weather conditions, not by any mistakes made by the highly experienced flight crew.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article American Airlines Flight 320 (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

American Airlines Flight 320
New York Queens County

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N 40.794 ° E -73.862 °
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College Point


11356 New York, Queens County
New York, United States
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Lockheed L 188 Electra N6101A 54641216
Lockheed L 188 Electra N6101A 54641216
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Bronx River
Bronx River

The Bronx River (), approximately 24 miles (39 km) long, flows through southeast New York in the United States and drains an area of 38.4 square miles (99 km2). It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. Besides the Hutchinson River, the Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City.It originally rose in what is now the Kensico Reservoir, in Westchester County north of New York City. With the construction of the Kensico Dam in 1885, however, the river was cut off from its natural headwaters and today a small tributary stream serves as its source. The Bronx River flows south past White Plains, then south-southwest through the northern suburbs in New York, passing through Edgemont, Tuckahoe, Eastchester, and Bronxville. It forms the border between the large cities of Yonkers and Mount Vernon, and flows into the northern end of The Bronx, where it divides East Bronx from West Bronx, southward through Bronx Park, New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo and continues through neighborhoods of the South Bronx. It empties into the East River, a tidal strait connected to Long Island Sound, between the Soundview and Hunts Point neighborhoods. In the 17th century, the river—called by the natives "Aquehung"—served as a boundary between loosely associated bands under sachems of the informal confederacy of the Wecquaesgeek, Europeanized as the Wappinger; the east bank of the river was the boundary for the Siwanoy, clammers and fishermen. The same line would be retained when manors were granted to the Dutch and the English. The Algonkian significance of the name is variously reported; the acca- element, as represented in the Long Island place-name Accabonac, was deformed into the more familiar, suitably watery European morpheme aque-. The tract purchased by Jonas Bronck in 1639 lay between the Harlem River and the river that came to be called "Bronck's river".

Rikers Island
Rikers Island

Rikers Island is a 413.17-acre (167.20-hectare) island in the East River between Queens and the Bronx that contains New York City's main jail complex. Named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664, the island was originally under 100 acres (40 ha) in size, but has since grown to more than 400 acres (160 ha). The first stages of expansion were accomplished largely by convict labor hauling in ashes for landfill. The island is politically part of the Bronx, although bridge access is from Queens. It is part of Queens Community Board 1 and uses an East Elmhurst, Queens, ZIP Code of 11370 for mail.The island is home to one of the world's largest correctional institutions and mental institutions, and has been described as New York's most well-known jail. The complex, operated by the New York City Department of Correction, has a budget of $860 million a year, a staff of 9,000 officers and 1,500 civilians managing 100,000 admissions per year and an average daily population of 10,000 inmates. The majority (85%) of detainees are pretrial defendants, either held on bail or remanded in custody. The rest of the population have been convicted and are serving short sentences. According to a 2021 analysis by New York City Comptroller, it costs the city approximately $556,539 to detain one person for one year at Rikers Island.Rikers Island has a reputation for violence, both abuse and neglect of inmates, attracting increased press and judicial scrutiny that has resulted in numerous rulings against the New York City government, and numerous assaults by inmates on uniformed and civilian staff, resulting in often serious injuries. In May 2013, Rikers Island ranked as one of the ten worst correctional facilities in the United States, based on reporting in Mother Jones magazine. Violence on Rikers Island has been increasing in recent years. In 2015, there were 9,424 assaults, the highest number in five years.In a 2017 report titled "Smaller, Safer, Fairer: A roadmap to closing Rikers Island", former Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his intention to close the jail complex at Rikers Island within ten years, if the city's crime rates stay low and the population at Rikers were reduced from 10,000 to 5,000. In February 2018, a state oversight commission suggested that New York state might move to close the facility before that deadline. In October 2019, the New York City Council voted to close down the facility by 2026.