Photo Courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Unit
The American Airlines Flight 587 Memorial was dedicated on Nov. 12, 2006.
By Michael V. Cusenza
The eyes of a solemn city on Saturday were trained on Rockaway Park and the residents and visitors gathered at the south end of Beach 116th Street to observe the 15th anniversary of the American Airlines Flight 587 tragedy.
On the morning of Nov. 12, 2001, an Airbus A300-600 flying the route of the regularly scheduled passenger flight from NYC to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, crashed into Belle Harbor roughly two minutes after leaving a John F. Kennedy International Airport runway.
All 260 people aboard the plane and five people on the ground were killed instantly.
The Flight 587 Memorial was dedicated on Nov. 12, 2006. A moment of silence is observed during the service each year at 9:16 a.m., the estimated time of the crash. Flight 587 is the second-largest aviation disaster in U.S. history.
“Fifteen years to the day, they were taken from us,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Saturday in remarks delivered at the memorial. “To all who are gathered here, to all the family, the friends, the members of this community, we want you to know simply and clearly that New York City is with you.”
De Blasio went on to hail the members of the NYPD and the FDNY “who rushed to the scene selflessly” to help. He also thanked the families that lost loved ones in the crash.
“A shock occurred in this city November 12th, 2001 – a shock that was felt from Belle Harbor all the way to the Dominican Republic,” the mayor said. “I’ve spoken with many of you today, and I hear time and again how the passing of time has not healed the wound and how, thank God, you have each other to see you through a day like this. It is a physically very cold day – that’s a reminder of the sharp pain you felt that day and have felt ever since. But I also could feel a warmth, a solidarity between all of you – the way you have found each other, supported each other, created a bigger family to be there for each other. Scripture says, ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’ You have all comforted each other so admirably, and you will continue to need each other in the years ahead. Your bond, your connection to each other, your support for each other, even amidst the pain, inspires us.”
michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
