American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into residential buildings five minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, killing a total of 265 people.

American Airlines Flight 587 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, to Las Américas International Airport, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. On November 12, 2001, the Airbus A300B4-605R flying the route crashed into the neighborhood of Belle Harbor on the Rockaway Peninsula of Queens, New York City, shortly after takeoff, killing all 251 passengers and 9 crew members aboard, as well as five people on the ground. It is the second-deadliest aviation accident to have occurred in the United States, behind the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 in 1979, and the second-deadliest aviation incident involving an Airbus A300, after Iran Air Flight 655.

John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is the busiest of the seven airports in the New York airport system, the sixth-busiest airport in the United States, and the busiest international commercial airport in North America. The airport, which covers 5,200 acres (2,104 ha), is the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Over 90 airlines operate from JFK Airport, with nonstop or direct flights to destinations on all six inhabited continents.