| Crash site | Los Angeles International Airport, USA |
| Airline | TWA (Trans World Airlines) |
| Aircraft | Boeing 707 – N757TW |
| Route | New York/JFK – Los Angeles IAP |
| Crew | 7 – 7 survivors |
| Passengers | 58 – 58 survivors |
The crash
The plane departed from John F. Kennedy International Airport on 15 January at 20:25 on a domestic passenger flight to Los Angeles.
After a night visual runway approach, the aircraft touched down. The nose landing gear collapsed upon touchdown at 01:35 and the plane skidded along the runway and eventually caught fire. A postcrash fire destroyded the fuselage and the plane was damagade beyond repair. All onboard got out of the plane and only 8 were injured.
The reason for the crash was that the crew lost outside visual reference just before landing due to a low cloud and fog.
The mail
Most of the mail onboard was domestic mail. Mail from overseas countries is rare.
Some of the mail was recovered and forwarded with either a handstamp or an explanatory note.
So far I have recorded two Nordic items. Both are shown below.
A.
Handstamp.
Purple.
Size: 87 x 67½ mm.
B.
Explanatory label.
Size: 203 x 71½ mm.
Size textblock: 144 x 47 mm.
With purple date stamp.
Examples of mail
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Cover from Denmark postmarked KLAMPENBORG 13.1.74 to Pasadena, California with crash handstamp type A. Several stamps are missing as the cover was much watersoked. |
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Cover from Finland postmarked HELSINGFORS 10 11-1-74 to Los Angeles, USA. |
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