Eastern Air Lines Flight 663

Eastern Air Lines Flight 663

An Eastern Air Lines Douglas DC-7B
Accident
Date	February 8, 1965 (1965-02-08)
Summary	Spatial disorientation
Site	6.7 mi (10.8 km) SSW of Jones Beach State Park, New York, United States 40°26′10″N 73°33′45″W / 40.43611°N 73.56250°W / 40.43611; -73.56250
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
1st stopover	New York International Airport New York City, New York
2nd stopover	Byrd Field Richmond, Virginia
3rd stopover	Charlotte/Douglas Int'l Airport Charlotte, North Carolina
4th stopover	Greenville-Spartanburg Int'l Airport Greenville, South Carolina
Destination	Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta Int'l Airport Atlanta, Georgia
Occupants	84
Passengers	79
Crew	5
Fatalities	84
Survivors	0

Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 was a 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.