Sept. 1, 1961 - A TWA Lockheed Constellation airliner plunged into a cornfield 20 miles west of Chicago today, killing all 78 persons aboard. The crash was the worst single-plane disaster in U.S. commercial aviation history. The plane crashed four minutes after taking off from Chicago's Midway Airport bound for Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Family groups on vacation - one of seven, another of six, another of five - were among the victims. Aviation officials said there was nothing so far to indicate an explosion in the air, but they said the plane had swooped to earth fast and at a steep angle. One witness said the plane "fell like a comet." 55-year-old farmer Jerry Broz, owner of the property where the plane crashed, said: "My farmyard is a cemetery without crosses."
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