In the late 1950's, jet airlines started becoming popular, threatening ocean liner annd intercity passenger rail travel. That all changed on July 14, 1957. During a routine flight between New York and London, a passenger plane mysteriously disappeared. A search revealed that the plane had crashed as a result of a mechanical failure with both jet engines. Over the next few weeks, more jetliners began crashing, whether it was over the Atlantic, the Pacific, or over land, all because of engine failures. Quite mysteriously, the older propellor craft worked flawlessly, but were slower.