National Affairs: Holocaust at LaGuardia

A black line-squall loomed in the northwest and lightning flared from cloud to cloud as United Airlines Cleveland-bound Flight 521, 44 passengers, four crew, trundled away from the LaGuardia Field ramp on the eve of Memorial Day. As he taxied out to the far side of the field, 38-year-old Captain Benton R. ("Lucky") Baldwin was cleared for takeoff. The control tower gave him his choice of two runways—No. 13 or No. 18.* He picked the shortest, No. 18; it was only 3,533 feet long but it pointed directly into the brisk, 18 m.p.h. south...