Smith had just decided to turn her career to singing , with promising results , when she was involved in the crash of National Airlines Flight 101 in New Jersey in 1952 , in which 29 other people on board were killed . She suffered severe injuries , including broken back , ribs and burns to her legs . In an article published shortly after , '' Jet '' magazine described Smith as " The Magnificent Failure : She won fame but never quite could attain stardom . " After recovering from the accident , Smith continued on her singing career , performing alongside artists like Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn in the London production of " Cockles and Champagne . " Smith later became the women 's editor of '' Our World '' , a now defunct lifestyle magazine focusing on African-American readers , and , in the early 1960s , an English teacher at Eastview Junior High School in White Plains , New York
National Airlines Flight 101
National Airlines Flight 101
Mildred Joanne Smith