Just two months and one day after the 9/11attacks in Manhattan, another tragedy struck the five boroughs when an American Airlines flight to the Dominican Republic crashed in Belle Harbor, Queens.
Now, 15 years later, the victims of the Flight 587 crash, which killed all 260 people on board and five people on the ground, were remembered during a service in the Rockaways on Saturday.
The names of the 265 victims were read during the ceremony, and a moment of silence marked the time the plane crashed just minutes after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport.
“We just heard the names of 265 good people. They were mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors. I’m humbled to be here with you, again, for this solemn moment, 15 years to the day they were taken from us,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said during the ceremony. The National Transportation Safety Board ruled that the crash was caused by human error. The flight crew overused a rudder mechanism to offset wake turbulence from a Japan Airlines flight that took off rightbefore Flight 587, the agency found. It was the second-deadliest aviation accident in both New York state and the U.S. On May 25, 1979, American Airlines Flight 191 crashed moments after taking off in Chicago. A total of 273 people, including two people on the ground, were killed in that crash.
#FDNY pauses to remember those who lost their lives 15 years ago, in the crash of AA Flight 587 in the #Rockaways pic.twitter.com/OLFCxK6mx3
— FDNY (@FDNY) November 12, 2016
#OnThisDay in 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 crashes in Queens, New York https://t.co/IFOVo2lW3d pic.twitter.com/BVTDw1Dlek
— AIRLIVE.net (@airlivenet) November 12, 2016
love and always miss you i know you would’ve been proud of us all #flight587 ❤️? pic.twitter.com/jSURjNL76c
— 4k16$lidess? (@king_stefvn) November 12, 2016
A moment of silence for those who lost their lives fifteen years ago today. #flight587 pic.twitter.com/iWt89nV4DZ
— NYPD 100th Precinct (@NYPD100Pct) November 12, 2016
“Today, we mourn with the families of those who passed away & the Dominican community, who lost many of their own in Flight 587”@MMViverito
— NYC Council (@NYCCouncil) November 12, 2016
Let’s remember the 265 victims of #Flight587 who perished 15 years ago today. pic.twitter.com/9HssU2TfSv
— Mike (@PoPoMike) November 12, 2016
