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Douglas DC-8-20 accident report

Thursday 19 January 1961 Aeronaves de Mexico DC-8-21 XA-XAX s/n 45432

Flight 401 from New York – Idlewild (IDL) to Mexico City (MEX) with 9 crew and 97 passengers. Take-off run from RW 07R * was unnecessarily aborted by the crew in poor weather with snow on the runway. The aircraft crashed and burned.

First flight : 1960 Airframe hrs : 529 engines : JT4A. 4 crew members died in the crash and some passengers injured. V1 speed : 130 knots = 241 km/h location : +- 50 m 40°38’52.47”N 73°45’09.88”W (*) at Idlewild, Now JFK apt they have RW 04R, could not find a 07R..

On February 25, 1964, Eastern Airlines DC-8-21 N8607 c/n 45428 crashed near New Orleans, Louisiana. flt304 New Orleans > Atlanta with 51 passengers and 7 crew. Crashed 5 min after TO in Lake Pontchartrain, 30km NE v Orleans (Moisant) int'l apt, wreck 6m deep, 60% salvaged. Wreck was in small pieces. Horizontal stabilizer was set in full nose-down trim. At the time of the accident it was dark. There was heavy turbulence and the pilots had to fly on their instruments. All 58 people on board killed. The aircraft had made its first flight in 1960 and had 11340 flight hours on the clocks. It was equipped with JT4A-9 engines. Literature : www.aviation-safety.net Location +-250m 30°09'35"N 90°02'46"W

2 fatal accidents with 62 fatalities between 1961 and 1964