Eastern Air Lines Flight 663
An Eastern Air Lines Douglas DC-7B | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | February 8, 1965 |
| Summary | Spatial disorientation while evading a mid-air collision |
| Site |
|
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-7B |
| Operator | Eastern Air Lines |
| IATA flight No. | EA663 |
| ICAO flight No. | EAL663 |
| Call sign | EASTERN 663 |
| Registration | N849D |
| Flight origin | Logan International Airport Boston, Massachusetts, US |
| 1st stopover | New York International Airport New York City, US |
| 2nd stopover | Byrd Field Richmond, Virginia, US |
| 3rd stopover | Charlotte/Douglas Int'l Airport Charlotte, North Carolina, US |
| 4th stopover | Greenville-Spartanburg Int'l Airport Greenville, South Carolina, US |
| Destination | Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta Int'l Airport Atlanta, Georgia, US |
| Occupants | 84 |
| Passengers | 79 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Fatalities | 84 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 was an American domestic passenger flight from Boston, Massachusetts, to Atlanta, Georgia, with scheduled stopovers at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York; Richmond, Virginia; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Greenville, South Carolina. On the night of February 8, 1965, the aircraft serving the flight, a Douglas DC-7, crashed near Jones Beach State Park, New York, just after taking off from JFK Airport. All 79 passengers and five crew aboard died.
The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) investigation determined that evasive maneuvers undertaken by Flight 663 to avoid an oncoming Pan Am Boeing 707 caused the pilot to suffer spatial disorientation and lose control of the aircraft. The accident is the third-worst accident involving a DC-7.