DISASTERS: Death in the Moonlight

DISASTERS Death in the Moonlight

The night was a pilot's dream, clear and bright with waxing moon glowing yellow in the sky. In the tower at New York's Idlewild Airport, controlmen expertly ticked off the routine comings and goings of scores of aircraft. Shortly after 12:30 a.m., the routine broke: an LAV (for Linea Aeropostal Venezolana) Super Constellation, droning southward from Idlewild across the black Atlantic toward Caracas, was in trouble. Her position: 38° 10 min. north, 72° 08 min. west (160 miles southeast of the New Jersey coast). "Returning direct to New York," said...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!