an altitude of . At 11:34p.m., the flight approached the New York City area. Air traffic controllers at LaGuardia Airport informed the pilots that the weather conditions at the airport included overcast skies with a ceiling of and a visibility of . The tower controller instructed the flight to proceed to the north of the airport, and to prepare to perform a direct approach over the East River to land on runway 22. At 11:55p.m., when the aircraft was from the airport, controllers gave the flight its final landing clearance for runway 22. The flight crew acknowledged the clearance with a simple acknowledgement of "320", and there was no further radio communication. Moments later, the aircraft struck the surface of the East River about short of the runway, at a speed of . A witness aboard a nearby tugboat reported seeing the aircraft flying very low over the river before it hit the water with a tremendous noise. A different crew member on the tugboat also saw the moment of impact, and stated that he thought that the aircraft had a nose-down angle at the time. A witness in a car approaching the Whitestone Bridge described seeing the aircraft pass overhead at an altitude of only about . He did not notice if the landing gear was down but he said he could see the whole underside and the lights in the windows of the aircraft. Surviving passengers and crew members in the main cabin said that the descent prior to the crash seemed to be uneventful and routine. Many residents in the area reported hearing the Electra fly overhead and had the impression that it flying lower than planes usually did in the area. The accident was the first crash involving the Lockheed L-188 Electra aircraft, which had begun commercial service at American Airlines in the previous weeks. It was the first significant accident involving an American Airlines aircraft since the crash of American Airlines Flight 327 on January 6, 1957. Aftermath A privately-owned tugboat from New England was on the river near the site of the crash when its crew saw and heard the impact. It cut loose the barges that it had been towing and was the first to arrive at the scene, illuminating the area with the boat's searchlight. All eight airplane occupants who had survived the crash were rescued by the crew, including one man