In April 1991 , Williams &mdash; at that time , the only native-born black American faculty member in the combined School of Engineering and School of Science at MIT &mdash; conducted a fasting sit-in each Wednesday throughout April . He was protesting the lack of black faculty and a lack of inspirational education for minority students . During his protest , he set up a temporary office in the corridor at the entrance of the offices of the MIT president and provost . He observed that some aspects of the black community have disproportionately suffered attendant with integration because , in the broadest sense , many talented blacks have left the black community ( no matter where it exists ) &mdash; they no longer live in or relate to it ; " they have been encouraged to escape from their roots . " The residual black community is less educated and financially poorer . He characterized this phenomenon as " neocolonialist . " On November 12 , 2001 , shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport , American Airlines Flight 587 , an Airbus Industrie A300-600 , crashed in Queens , New York , killing 251 passengers , a crew of 9 , and 5 people on the ground . At the request of several American Airlines pilots , Williams analyzed and then challenged the inspection requirements and the accident investigation conclusions of Airbus Industrie , the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) , and the National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB ) &mdash; all of whom to varying degrees blamed the co-pilot of Flight 587 for the crash . The investigation and controversy concerning the crash focused on ( 1 ) the co-pilot 's actions during takeoff , and ( 2 ) the aircraft 's vertical stabilizer of the tail section , a complex structure of advanced composites . The vertical stabilizer on Flight 587 snapped off and landed in Jamaica Bay , away from the fuselage crash site
American Airlines Flight 587
American Airlines Flight 587
James H. Williams Jr.