Lake Michigan 42°22′N86°37′W / 42.367°N 86.617°W / 42.367; -86.617
Aircraft
Aircraft type
Douglas DC-4 (former C-54)
Operator
Northwest Orient Airlines
Registration
N95425[1](formerly 42-72165)
Flight origin
LaGuardia Airport New York City, New York
1st stopover
Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota
2nd stopover
Spokane, Washington
Destination
Seattle, Washington
Occupants
58
Passengers
55
Crew
3
Fatalities
58 (all presumed; only body fragments found)
Survivors
0
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 was a DC-4 operating its daily transcontinental service between New York City and Seattle when it disappeared on the night of June 23, 1950. The flight was carrying 55 passengers and three crew members; the loss of all 58 aboard made it the deadliest commercial airliner accident in America at the time.[2]
The aircraft was at approximately 3,500 feet (1,100 metres) over Lake Michigan, 18 miles (29 kilometres) NNW of Benton Harbor, Michigan,[3] when flight controllers lost radio contact with it soon after the pilot had requested a descent to 2,500 ft (760 m). Witnesses reported hearing engine sputtering noises and a flash of light after the last radio transmission.[4] A widespread search was commenced including using sonar and dragging the bottom of Lake Michigan with trawlers, but to no avail. Considerable light debris, upholstery, and human body fragments were found floating on the surface, but divers were unable to locate the plane's wreckage.[5]
^"FAA Registry (N95425)". Federal Aviation Administration.
^"58 FEARED LOST IN CRASH OF AIRLINER IN LAKE MICHIGAN; HUNT PROVES FUTILE; MANY FROM NEW YORK AREA ARE ABOARD; OIL SLICKS SIGHTED Plane from New York Runs Into Storm While on Trip to the West DIVER SEARCHES IN VAIN Report of 'Wreckage' Untrue --Loss May Be the Worst on Commercial Airlines". The New York Times. June 25, 1950. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
^Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2008-01-27
^Michigan Shipwrecks website
^Cite error: The named reference MSRA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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