Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501
| Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) An identical aircraft from the company |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | unexplained |
| place | Lake Michigan , 18 miles northwest of Benton Harbor |
| date | June 23, 1950 |
| Fatalities | 58 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-4 |
| operator | Northwest Orient Airlines |
| Mark | N95425 |
| Departure airport | New York LaGuardia Airport |
| 1. Stopover | Minneapolis-Saint Paul |
| 2. Stopover | Spokane |
| Destination airport | Seattle |
| Passengers | 55 |
| crew | 3 |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
On June 23, 1950, a Douglas DC-4 disappeared on Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 , which ran daily between New York City and Seattle . On board were 55 passengers and 3 crew members. The loss of all 58 passengers and crew was the worst commercial aircraft accident in US history to date.
The aircraft was approximately 3,500 feet (1,100 m) above Lake Michigan , 18 miles (29 km) NNW of Benton Harbor , Michigan , after the request for a descent to 2,500 feet (760 m) was passed when it was hit by the radar screens disappeared. A broad search, including the use of sonar and trawler searching the bottom of Lake Michigan, was unsuccessful. Lots of light debris, upholstery, and human body parts were found floating on the surface, but divers couldn't find the plane wreck either.
root cause
There have been many theories about what caused the plane to disappear from the radar. The aircraft was known to enter a storm front with turbulence, but since it was not found, the cause of the crash could never be determined.
Victim
Two entire families were killed in the accident. The largest group was the Hokansons family - John, his wife Kay, their seven-year-old daughter Janice, and their four-year-old son Thomas. The other family was William H. Frengs. Mr. Freng, an attorney and vice president of International Telephone and Telegraph , was accompanied by his wife, Rosa, and their daughter Barbara, 18.
today
The missing aircraft wreck is the subject of a long-term search by Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates , MSRA for short, a Michigan-based volunteer organization. The search is funded by the well-known author Clive Cussler , who founded the National Underwater and Marine Agency and searches for shipwrecks worldwide. In September 2008, a researcher investigating the accident found an anonymous grave believed to contain the remains of some of the 58 victims. MSRA member Valerie van Heest says remains of the victims washed ashore and buried in a mass grave. She goes on to say that they were buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery without the relatives' knowledge and that the grave was never marked.
Web links
- Commemorative page for Flight 2501
- Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates: Northwest Airlines Flight 2501 (DC4)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 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 (English) . In: The New York Times , June 25, 1950. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ↑ accident report DC-4 N95425 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 1 December 2017th