I remember June 24,1975 as if it was yesterday. I was 10 yrs. old my mother and sister and my self took my uncle to the New Orleans Airport to catch his flight back to New York to renew his contract with the New York Nets ABA basketball team. My uncles name is Wendell Ladner (#4 with the Nets). Wendell and Dr.J became best friends. When we laid Wendell to rest, some of the team members was the pallbearrers including Coach Kevin Lochery, and Dr.J. I don't remember the names of the other players. After Wendells death Dr.J stayed in touch with my family. One thing I will never forget was the smell of his luggage we had received from the crash. The last thing he told my grand mother before he left was, "Momma, I won't be gone for ever. I'll be back in a couple of days." My grandmother ended up mourning herself to death.

--Deron Cuevas

I will never forget this one I lived near there and saw this plane making its approach from the car. I think everybody who was on the belt parkway near JFK saw that plane. It was such a bad day I remember the thing is that you could see all the approach markers for planes. Then all of a sudden the plane just started to hit these lights. It was very fast and next we new smoke we all new it was bad. We use to always say it was a matter of time when a plane would go down on 22 everybody who lived around JFK and the belt knew that 22L was the worst of hardest runway a plane could land on. The light I believe started out in the water then the plane would have to bank in over the belt and it’s a really sharp turn. With the rain that day it’s no wonder we always new it and I hope JFK as fixed that approach.

--Anonymous

I remember this day. I was a young man living & working in NYC and had just gotten home from work when it happened. I remember that NBC News was on the scene almost immediately, and began non stop TV coverage. The plane flew over the Grand Central Parkway, narrowly missing plowing into the highway during rush hour. There were thunderstorms - they later attributed the crash to a "microburst" or a severe downdraft associated with a thunderstorm, at the approach end of the runway that brought the plane down.

--Anonymous

I remember that afternoon vividly. I was 13 years old at the time and out with my mom shopping. The storm approached quickly, and it became very dark over Southwestern Nassau County (Adjacent to JFK). When the rain started, it came down with such intensity that wipers could not keep up. Lightning and thunder accompanied the storm as well. We heard of the crash on the car radio, and returned home as soon as the rain let up. My Dad worked for Eastern Air Lines at JFK, and had just gotten home from work. I listened to the firefighting, and search efforts on my scanner at home, while watching local TV coverage. I remember in the days and weeks following the crash, my father being involved in various aspects of the recovery from this terrible incident. It had been an unfortunate few years for Eastern, having had two major crashes prior to Flight 66. In 1972, an L-1011 aircraft crashed on approach to Miami killing all 101 on board, and in 1974 an Eastern DC-9 aircraft crashed in Charlotte, N. C. killing 72.

--Vincent J. McManus - N.Y.