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Events on February 8 in history

Eastern Air Lines Flight 663
1965Feb, 8

Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean and explodes, killing everyone aboard.

Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 was a domestic passenger flight from Boston, Massachusetts, to Atlanta, Georgia, with scheduled stopovers at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York; Richmond, Virginia; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Greenville, South Carolina. On the night of February 8, 1965, the aircraft serving the flight, a Douglas DC-7, crashed near Jones Beach State Park, New York, just after taking off from JFK Airport. All 79 passengers and five crew aboard perished.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) investigation determined that evasive maneuvers undertaken by Flight 663 to avoid an oncoming Pan Am Boeing 707 caused the pilot to suffer spatial disorientation and lose control of the aircraft. The accident is the third-worst accident involving a DC-7.

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Events on 1965

  • 8Mar

    Vietnam War

    Thirty-five hundred United States Marines are the first American land combat forces committed during the Vietnam War.
  • 15Mar

    Voting Rights Act

    President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to the Selma crisis, tells U.S. Congress "We shall overcome" while advocating the Voting Rights Act.
  • 6Aug

    Voting Rights Act of 1965

    US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.
  • 27Nov

    Lyndon B. Johnson

    Vietnam War: The Pentagon tells U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson that if planned operations are to succeed, the number of American troops in Vietnam has to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000.
  • 28Nov

    Ferdinand Marcos

    Vietnam War: In response to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's call for "more flags" in Vietnam, Philippine President-elect Ferdinand Marcos announces he will send troops to help fight in South Vietnam.