Eastern Airlines Flight 375

Eastern Air Lines Flight 375, registration N5533, was a Lockheed L-188 Electra aircraft that crashed on takeoff from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts on 4 October 1960 due to bird strikes from a large flock of starlings. 62 of 72 on board were killed in the accident; ten survived, nine with serious injuries. Investigators with the Civil Aeronautics Board determined that engines Nos. 1, 2, and 4 had each ingested at least one bird, and that engine No. 1 had ingested at least eight. The bird damage caused the No. 1 propeller to autofeather and the engine to shut down at the same time that damage to the No. 2 and No. 4 engines prevented those engines from developing full power at a critical stage of flight. The aircraft, unable to climb, went into a mush. The power interruption to the port engines probably caused the left wing to stall; the wing dropped and the aircraft crashed into the water. There was also evidence that birds had crashed into the windscreen, reducing the pilots' visibility; in addition, bird remains had clogged the pitot tubes, making the pilots' airspeed indicators unreliable.