8 ▁hours ▁and ▁five ▁minutes ▁at ▁the ▁time ▁of ▁the ▁accident . ▁ ▁The ▁captain ▁was ▁ 4 9 - year - old ▁Joseph ▁John ▁May , ▁who ▁had ▁ 2 2 , 3 0 0 ▁flight ▁hours , ▁including ▁ 7 , 1 0 0 ▁hours ▁on ▁the ▁DC - 8 . ▁Other ▁T IA ▁pil ots ▁referred ▁to ▁him ▁as ▁" R on ". ▁The ▁first ▁officer ▁was ▁ 4 7 - year - old ▁John ▁Donald ▁Lo eff ler , ▁who ▁had ▁ 1 5 , 7 7 5 ▁flight ▁hours , ▁with ▁ 4 , 7 5 0 ▁of ▁them ▁on ▁the ▁DC - 8 . ▁The ▁flight ▁engineer ▁was ▁ 4 2 - year - old ▁Donald ▁Kenneth ▁Ne ely , ▁who ▁had ▁ 1 0 , 0 0 0 ▁flight ▁hours , ▁including ▁ 3 , 5 0 0 ▁hours ▁on ▁the ▁DC - 8 . ▁There ▁were ▁also ▁eight ▁flight ▁attend ants ▁on ▁board . ▁ ▁Acc ident ▁ ▁At ▁ 1 6 : 0 4 ▁( E ST ), ▁the ▁aircraft ▁was ▁cleared ▁to ▁take ▁off ▁from ▁J F K ▁Airport ▁run way ▁ 1 3 R . ▁The ▁take - off ▁roll ▁comm enced ▁one ▁minute ▁later , ▁at ▁ 1 6 : 0 5 . ▁The ▁take off ▁was ▁unus ually ▁slow , ▁with ▁rotation ▁occurr ing ▁ ▁down ▁the ▁run way . ▁Due ▁to ▁the ▁slow ▁rotation , ▁a ▁tail st rike ▁occurred ▁and ▁sk idd ed ▁on ▁the ▁run way ▁for