Queens remembers Belle Harbor crash victims
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A ceremony to honor the victims of the American Airlines Flight 587 crash 20 years ago was held on Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Photo via the Mayor’s Office
By Jacob Kaye
Twenty years ago, a commercial flight leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport and headed to the Dominican Republic crashed in Belle Harbor, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.
Braving heavy winds and rain on Friday, loved ones of the victims lost in the crash and local leaders gathered in Rockaway Park to remember the passengers and crew who died two decades ago in what is the second-deadliest plane crash in U.S. history.
“It doesn't matter the wind, the rain, you're here to show that love, and I honor you for that,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “It's been a labor of love to remember and to support people we have come to know so deeply and with such appreciation.”
American Airlines Flight 587 crashed a little after 9 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2001, less than five minutes after first taking off.
The crash, which happened when the plane lost its rudder due to a faulty system and insufficient pilot training, came only two months after Sept. 11, leading many to speculate that the accident was the result of a terror attack. It was a re-traumatizing event for many, especially those in Belle Harbor – the plan came down on Newport Avenue and Beach 131st Street.
Many of the passengers on the plan were of Dominican descent and it heavily affected New York City’s Dominican population.
Manhattan and Bronx Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Queens Rep. Gregory Meeks introduced a resolution in Congress on Friday in remembrance of the victims of the crash.
"The tragic American Airlines Flight 587 plane crash took place just two months after the September 11th terrorist attacks while our community was already grieving," Meeks said. "The devastation has been felt every single day since and we will always remember the lives of the 265 victims who lost their lives and this resolution will ensure this. I stand with Congressman Espaillat and the loved ones of the victims of Flight 587 and the Belle Harbor Community."
Espaillat said the resolution was designed to “ensure that the memories of every single victim and their surviving family members are not forgotten.”
“For them, the crash is still a visceral wound and closure remains elusive,” Espaillat said. “No matter how many anniversaries pass us by, we must never forget the magnitude of this loss and the impact it will forever have on the lives of countless families across the country."
As the clean-up from the aftermath of 9/11 continued, first responders and those in the community were again called upon to help wade through the wreckage of a plane crash.
“Twenty years ago, it's extraordinary to imagine – it's hard to believe 20 years have passed but we all can feel, right here, what it felt like those days just after 9/11, feeling that pain already,” de Blasio said. “And then another tragedy, a tragedy felt from the Dominican Republic all the way here to Belle Harbor. 265 good souls lost. And that pain does not go away, but we still, even amidst the pain, appreciate all the people who came in that moment to try to help – the first responders, the people from the neighborhood who tried to help from that moment on.”
“And then for 20 years since, the way you have all helped each other, you've been there for each other,” he added. “You've created a community and out of the pain, you found something so good and noble.”
The memorial in honor of the victims was dedicated in 2006, five years after the accident. It’s located on 116th Street and the Rockaway Beach boardwalk.
