Flt. 587 sorrow
Blaz marks 17th ann’y of crash that killed 265
Mayor de Blasio commemorated the Flight 587 tragedy at a memorial for the victims in Rockaway Park on Monday — 17 years after the American Airlines jet suddenly plummeted from the sky, leaving 265 dead.
“That morning started out like any other day, and then tragedy struck, and everyone’s lives were changed,” de Blasio said. “Two hundred sixty-five good people lost, and we remember them here.”
The Dominican Republicbound plane departed JFK Airport into clear blue skies shortly after 9 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2001. Just one minute into the flight, the plane hit “wake” turbulence caused by a passing jet.
The Flight 587 pilot attempted to stabilize the jet by quickly moving its rudder back and forth, but instead inadvertently caused a stabilizer to be torn from the jet’s body, sending it into its horrific descent.
When it came down, pieces of the plane landed in Jamaica Bay, in a boat parked in a driveway, in a gas station and through the roofs of homes in Belle Harbor, destroying four houses and sparking fires in about a dozen more.
Just two months after the 9/11 attacks had already sent the neighborhood reeling into a deep depression — dozens of Rockaway peninsula residents, including several firefighters, died at the twin towers — a local school gym had to be converted into a makeshift morgue.
Authorities initially feared the crash was an act of terrorism, and for months speculation persisted that a terrorist detonated an explosive device aboard the plane. But investigators later determined the pilot’s reaction to the turbulence ultimately led to the tragedy.
All 260 passengers aboard the plane — including all nine of its crew members — perished, as well as five people on the ground. Many were Dominican immigrants living in Washington Heights at the time.
Mayor de Blasio, who spoke in somber, measured tones Monday, infamously showed up behind schedule to the memorial in 2014, inviting the ire of victims’ families.
Hizzoner blamed a rough night’s sleep for his lateness, saying at the time it made him feel “really sluggish and off-kilter” that morning. His tossing and turning also caused him to miss the memorial ceremony’s ringing of the bell and the moment of silence at 9:16 a.m., when the crash occurred.
The bell-ringing took place one minute late that year, prompting one frustrated mourner at the service to label the mayor’s performance “a disgrace.”
On Monday, though, he was there on time and was positioned just steps away from the bell when it tolled.
“We share your grief — all of us together,” he said before placing white flowers at the memorial. “I know today we are all mourning, but I know everyone is comforting each other.”