1960 TWA and United Air Lines Midair Collision Near New York (N6907C)

Accident Overview and Losses On December 16, 1960, at 1033 e.s.t., a midair collision occurred near Miller Army Air Field, Staten Island, New York, involving Trans World Airlines Flight 266, a Model 1049A Constellation registered N6907C, and United Air Lines Flight 826, a DC-8 registered N8013U. Both aircraft were operating under Instrument Flight Rules. After impact, the Constellation fell on Miller Army Field, while the DC-8 continued northeast and struck Sterling Place near Seventh Avenue in Brooklyn. Both aircraft were totally destroyed. All 128 occupants of the two aircraft and 6 persons on the ground in Brooklyn were fatally injured, and considerable property damage occurred in the area of the DC-8 ground impact. ## Flight Operations and Navigation TWA Flight 266 originated at Dayton, Ohio, with a stop at Columbus, Ohio, and a destination of LaGuardia Airport, New York. It departed Port Columbus Airport at 0900 and was vectored by LaGuardia Approach Control toward a final approach to runway 4. The flight was cleared to descend to 5,000 feet and was twice advised of traffic in the vicinity on a northeasterly heading. After that information was transmitted, the radar targets appeared to merge on the LaGuardia Approach Control radar scope, and communications with TWA 266 were lost. United Air Lines Flight 826 was a nonstop service from O'Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois, to New York International Airport, New York. It contacted the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center at 1012 and was cleared to proceed from the Allentown, Pennsylvania, VOR direct to the Robbinsville, New Jersey, VOR, and then to the Preston Intersection via Victor Airway 123. At about 1021, the crew advised ARINC that the No. 2 receiver accessory unit was inoperative, indicating that one of the aircraft's two VHF radio navigational receivers was not functioning. Air Traffic Control was not advised of the malfunction. ## Contributing Circumstances At 1025, the New York ARTCC issued a new routing that shortened the distance to Preston by approximately 11 miles, reducing the time available for the crew to retune the single radio receiver to either the Colts Neck, New Jersey, or Solberg, New Jersey, VOR to establish the cross-bearing with Victor 123 and identify the Preston Intersection. An alternative would have been to take crossbearings on the Scotland Low Frequency Radiobeacon using the aircraft's direction finding equipment, but that method would have required rapid mental calculation and could have been easily misread. UAL 826 was not receiving radar vectors and was providing its own navigation. After the flight reported passing through 6,000 feet, the New York Center terminated radar service and instructed the flight to contact Idlewild Approach Control. UAL 826 then transmitted, “United 826 approaching Preston at 5,000.” This was the last known transmission. Flight recorder data and communication tape analysis confirmed that the aircraft had already passed the Preston clearance limit several seconds earlier and was several miles beyond the point where it should have turned into the holding pattern. The collision occurred at a point approximately 11 miles past the Preston Intersection. Weather at the altitude of the collision and at the time of the accident precluded flight by visual means.