The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 5: Is the Plane Crash Mentioned by Abe Based on a True Story?

The time jumps, Lenny’s decision to rent a property in California, and Midge’s successful return to the workforce all occur throughout the first few installments of Season 5 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. But maybe the most shocking part was when Abe Weissman (Tony Shalhoub) explained to his grandson Ethan Maisel a story.  Abe and Ethan had a private discussion on fear and how there are a lot more important things to be afraid of than one’s own bed. Ethan is so terrified by Abe’s ostensibly effective words that he becomes almost paralyzed. Abe, like most grandfathers, begins his story with an enigmatic question: “Have you heard of Park Slope?” Ethan responds with a simple “No,” prompting Abe to tell the most horrifying tale imaginable to soothe his grandson’s fear of sleeping alone in his own bed. grandfather related to Ethan that two airplanes from competing airlines—United Airlines Flight 826 and Trans World Airlines Flight 266—had a midair collision. All twelve passengers on board and six bystanders were killed when the plane crashed in Park Slope. Is the Plane Crash Mentioned by Abe from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” Based on True Events? tvacute investigated this tragedy?

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Is the Plane Crash Mentioned by Abe Based on a True Story?

In “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Abe wasn’t making up the story of the plane crash in Park Slope. This horrific crash truly occurred, despite sounding like something Abe would make up to terrify Ethan into staying in bed.  Based on the National Air and Space Museum, on December 16, 1960, the United Airlines flight about which Abe talked and a Trans World airplane collided over New York City. The probable reason for the tragedy was that the United flight had continued past the clearance limit issued by air traffic control but could not be contacted due to weather.  As far as aircraft disasters go, this one was the worst ever.

According to the New York Daily News, United Airlines Flight 826 was flying from Chicago to Idlewild Airport (aka JFK International Airport), while Trans World Airlines Flight 266 was coming in for a landing at LaGuardia Airport in Queens. Both planes crashed; the United Flight one in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and the Trans World one on Staten Island. The jet was 12 miles off track when it crashed. There 134 people died. One hundred and twenty-eight on both planes perished in the crash, while six more people in Brooklyn were killed. According to the New York Times, three men were killed in Park Slope; two were selling Christmas trees, and the third was shoveling snow.

Stephen Baltz, an 11-year-old kid from Wilmette, was the sole person to initially survive the collision. He was flying solo on 826 to spend Christmas with family in Yonkers. He was still conscious despite having serious burns and inhaling fire fuel. But he passed on the following day from pneumonia. More than 2,500 people helped out at the scene, including police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, and civil defense volunteers.

Parts of Park Slope were entirely destroyed in the catastrophe. According to The New York Times, approximately ten buildings in the Park Slope neighborhood were damaged by a jet fuel fire caused by the plane crash. A massive pit can be seen where the United Airlines plane’s tail portion crashed near the corner of Seventh Avenue and Sterling Place. the wing of the plane also broke through the roof of a four-story brownstone located at 126 Sterling Place. The crash of the plane on Staten Island resulted in the deaths of all of the people on board, however, there were no injuries reported on the ground.

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