One plane crash is a tragedy. Two in the same city is a catastrophe. And three is simply unfathomable. But that is just what happened in Elizabeth over a 58-day period in the early 1950s, a turbulent time for the historic city in the shadow of Newark Airport, and one that serves as the backdrop for Judy Blume's new novel "In the Unlikely Event."

On Dec. 16, 1951, a Miami Airlines flight from Newark to Tampa crashed into a brick storage building along an industrial stretch of the Elizabeth River, killing all 56 people on board. The plane, a Curtiss C-46 Commando, a repurposed military aircraft, was seen trailing smoke shortly after the 3:03 p.m. takeoff; fire then broke out near the right engine, which lost power. The plane lost altitude, sweeping low over Elizabeth, and stalled, crashing into the warehouse, which caught fire, and coming to rest on its belly in the river. One person on the ground was injured.

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On Jan. 22, 1952, an American Airlines Convair CV-240 en route to Newark from Syracuse in a storm crashed into a row of homes on Williamson Street at 3:45 p.m., killing all 23 on board, including former Secretary of War Robert Patterson, and seven people on the ground.

The plane skimmed over the roof of the all-girl Battin High School, which had let out for the day less an hour earlier. The crash site was also a block from St. Mary of the Assumption High School.

The plane was piloted by Thomas J. Reid, who lived with his wife and two children close to where the plane went down; his wife, pregnant with their third child, heard the crash and suspected immediately what had happened, according to contemporary accounts.

The plane was a half mile off course when it crashed, and investigators could not pinpoint a probably cause. But it is possible that Reid, so familiar with the city's geography, did all he could to avoid the schools.

This second crash led Elizabeth Mayor James T. Kirk to demand that Newark Airport be closed, a move opposed by the Port Authority.

But three weeks later, shortly after midnight on Feb. 11, a National Airlines DC-6 headed for Miami crashed into a four-story apartment building on Salem Avenue after take-off; the wreckage littered the the playing fields of the Janet Memorial Home for orphans and Westminster Avenue. Of the 63 on board, 29 were killed, along with four on the ground.

Boys from the orphanage rushed to the crash and pulled survivors from the burning wreckage, delivering one young woman to the hospital in a hearse, the only available vehicle. An investigation revealed both right engines failed.

That morning, a Congressional subcommittee had been scheduled to hear testimony in Elizabeth from residents who wanted Newark Airport closed. The Port Authority, which planned to argue against the closure and had sent out prepared statements calling the airport one of the safest in the nation, shut down the airport immediately. (It also asked newspapers not to print the statements.)

Newark Airport, which Kirk had dubbed an "umbrella of death," didn't reopen for full commercial traffic until November of that year, when a new runway that directed air traffic away from Elizabeth opened.

President Truman quickly formed a commission to look at airport safety nationwide. In May 1952, the commission recommended more clear space at the end of runways and the introduction of zoning laws prohibiting hospitals, schools and houses of worship in a fan-shaped area beyond the runway safety zone -- for future airports.

Citizens of Elizabeth were told that the likelihood of three planes crashing had been "extremely remote," as was the likelihood of that happening again. "The Newark airport," said commission chairman James H. Doolittle, "has had a most unusual accumulation of bad luck."

Vicki Hyman may be reached at vhyman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @vickihy. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.