In 1960, a Lockheed L-188 Electra serving Eastern Airlines Flight 375 took off from Boston’s Logan Airport for Philadelphia and other points south. Seconds after takeoff, the plane collided with a flock of twenty thousand starlings. Hundreds of birds were sucked into the machinery; two of the four engines lost power, and the plane plunged into the sea. Sixty-two people died, including several who were in town for a shoe-sales conference. After the crash, officials tested seasoned pilots on flight simulators to see if any of them could have saved the plane in such a scenario. All failed. In
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