USAir Flight 5050 crashes into Bowery Bay during a rejected takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, killing two people.

USAir Flight 5050 was a passenger flight that crashed on takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York. As the plane took off from LaGuardia's runway 31, the plane drifted to the left. After hearing a loud bang, the pilots attempted to reject the takeoff, but were unable to stop the plane short of the end of the runway. The plane continued past the end of the runway and plunged into Bowery Bay. Two passengers were killed.

Bowery Bay is a bay off the East River in New York City. It is located near the Ditmars Steinway area in the neighborhood of Astoria in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered on the west by the Bowery Bay Water Pollution Control Plant and on the south and east by LaGuardia Airport.

In aviation, a rejected takeoff (RTO) or aborted takeoff is the situation in which the pilot decides to abort the takeoff of an airplane after initiating the takeoff roll but before the airplane leaves the ground.

LaGuardia Airport, colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA, is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the northwestern shore of Long Island, bordering Flushing Bay. Covering 680 acres as of July 1, 2025, the facility was established in 1929, and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after Fiorello H. La Guardia, a former mayor of New York City.

September 20 is the 263rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 102 days remain until the end of the year.