Boston – Philadelphia – Atlanta

On October 4, 1960 at 05:40 PM, Boston – Philadelphia – Atlanta experienced a crash involving Lockheed L-188 Electra, operated by Eastern Airlines, with the event recorded near Boston Massachusetts.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

72 people were known to be on board, 62 fatalities were recorded, 10 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 86.1%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 67, passenger fatalities: 59, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is other causes. On October 4, 1960, at 1740 e.d.t., an Eastern Air Lines Lockheed Electra, N 5533, crashed into Winthrop Bay immediately following takeoff from runway 9 at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts. Ten of the 72 persons aboard survived the crash. The aircraft was totally destroyed. A few seconds after becoming airborne, the aircraft struck a flock of starlings. A number of these birds were ingested In engines Nos. 1, 2, and 4. Engine No. 1 was shut down and its propeller was feathered. Nos. 2 and 4 experienced a substantial momentary loss of power. This abrupt and intermittent loss and recovery of power resulted in the aircraft yawing to the left and decelerating to the stall speed. As speed decayed during the continued yaw and skidding left turn, the stall speed was reached; the left wing dropped, the nose pitched up, and the aircraft rolled left into a spin and fell almost vertically into the water. An altitude of less than 150 feet precluded recovery. The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the unique and critical sequence of the loss and recovery of engine power following bird ingestion, resulting in loss of airspeed and control during takeoff.

Aircraft reference details include registration N5533, MSN 1062, year of manufacture 1959.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 42.3558°, -71.0521°.