Deadly Willowbrook Plane Crash Remembered

CLARENDON HILLS, IL — Known at the time as the deadliest plane crash in U.S. history, TWA Flight 529 crashed in what is now Willowbrook on Sept. 1, 1961. All 73 passengers and five crew members died.

Throughout August, the Clarendon Hills Library, 7 N. Prospect Ave., will mark the 60th anniversary with a showcase on the crash of TWA Flight 529. On Sept. 1, a ceremony will take place at 2:04 p.m. at the site of the new permanent memorial in Prairie Trail Park in Willowbrook.

The open field where the plane crashed is now in the area surrounded by 59th and 61st streets to the north and south and Bentley Avenue and Clarendon Hills Road to the east and west.

The federal government identified the crash's cause as the loss of a 5/16th-inch bolt in the elevator boost mechanism.

The flight had begun in Boston and made stops in New York, Pittsburgh and then Chicago Midway, which is 11 miles east of the crash site. It was bound for Las Vegas and then Los Angeles.