Boeing 727-200, N8845E, Eastern Air Lines c.1975.
(Minicraft TWA 727-200 in 1/144 scale, kit #14599 (c) 2009
As a youngster, I flew Eastern quite often between San Juan, Puerto Rico and the mainland. The Boeing 727 was a pretty hot thing back then, and I enjoyed the thrill of flying in such a hot machine, although I really preferred Easterns' huge and stately L-1011 "Whisperliner".
On the 24th of June 1975, the crew of an Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 lined up to land on runway 22L at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Ahead of them, two other planes flew through a thunderstorm just off the end of the runway, encountering violent winds that nearly sent both aircraft plummeting into the ground. But Eastern Airlines flight 66 continued blithely after them, unaware of the true danger of the storm that lay ahead. Just moments from landing, a powerful downdraft gripped the 727 and slammed it to earth, where it struck the approach lighting system and slid in pieces onto Rockaway Boulevard. Of the 124 people on board, only 11 survived.
This accident led to the development of the original low level wind shear alert system by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in 1976, which was installed at 110 FAA towered airports between 1977 and 1987. The accident also led to the discovery of downbursts, a weather phenomenon that creates vertical wind shear and poses dangers to landing aircraft, which ultimately sparked decades of research into downburst and microburst phenomena and their effects on aircraft.
This build is a small tribute to those lost or affected as a result of this terrible crash.
Kit is Minicraft #14599, Boeing 727-200 in TWA markings, the 2009 boxing of the (somewhat disappointing) kit originally released in 2004. Paints are rattlecan grey primer and gloss white, with Humbrol Metalcote Polished ALuminium for the bare metal areas. Decals by PointerDog7, purchased back in 2014 on eBay, with home-printed registration number.
I borrowed the opening narrative from admiralcloudberg.med..ight-66-f49f56fb5f2e. Check out the link for the full story of the events that day and the subsequent investigation that led to dramatic improvements in weather guessing that have helped to make flying the safest way to travel.
