Today’s #NY1at30 coverage recalls a tragic day in Queens, when the U.S. suffered one of the deadliest aviation accidents to date. On Nov. 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 departed from John F. Kennedy International Airport bound for the Dominican Republic, but would crash moments after takeoff into the Belle Harbor neighborhood on the Rockaway Peninsula. All 251 passengers and nine crew members were killed, along with five people on the ground. Given that the incident happened just months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, it immediately sparked terrorism fears. However, the National Transportation Safety Board would later attribute the disaster to an overuse of rudder controls in response to air turbulence. A permanent memorial to the 265 victims of the crash now resides at the south end of Beach 116th Street, less than 20 blocks from the crash site. 📷: AP Photo, AP Photo/ Kathy Kmonicek