On December 16, 1960, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 bound for Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport) in New York City collided in midair with a TWA Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation descending toward LaGuardia Airport. The Constellation crashed on Miller Field in Staten Island and the DC-8 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, killing all 128 aboard the two aircraft and six people on the ground. The accident, the world's deadliest aviation disaster at the time, remains the deadliest accident in the history of United Airlines as of 2022. The accident became known as the Park Slope plane crash or the Miller Field crash after the two crash sites. The accident was also the first hull loss and first fatal accident involving a Douglas DC-8. Aircraft and crews United Airlines Flight 826, Mainliner Will Rogers, registration was a DC-8-11 carrying 77 passengers and seven crewmembers from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago to Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport) in Queens. The crew consisted of captain Robert Sawyer (age 46), first officer Robert Fiebing (40), flight engineer Richard Pruitt (30) and four stewardesses. Captain Sawyer was a highly experienced pilot, having accumulated 19,100 flight hours, of which 344 were in the DC-8. First officer Fiebing had accumulated 8,400 flight hours, of which 416 were in the DC-8. Flight engineer Pruitt had accumulated 8,500 flight hours, of which 379 were in the DC-8. Trans World Airlines Flight 266, Star of Sicily, registration was a Super Constellation carrying 39 passengers and five crew members from Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, to LaGuardia Airport in Queens. The crew consisted of captain David Wollam (age 39), first officer Dean Bowen (32), flight engineer LeRoy "Lee" Rosenthal (30) and two stewardesses. Captain Wollam had accumulated 14,583 flight hours, 267 of which were in the Constellation. First officer Bowen had accumulated 6,411 flight hours, of which 268 were on the Constellation. Flight engineer Rosenthal had accumulated 3,561 flight hours, of which 204 were in the Constellation. Star of Sicily sister ship N6902C, Star of the Seine, was destroyed in another mid-air collision with a United Airlines flight in 1956. Background At 10:21 a.m. Eastern Time, United 826 advised ARINC radio that one of its VOR receivers was inoperative, and the message was relayed to United Airlines maintenance. However, air-traffic control (ATC) was not informed that the aircraft had only one operational receiver, which presented difficulty for