Northwest Airlines Flight 2

Northwest Airlines Flight 2

A Lockheed 14H similar to the accident aircraft
Accident summary
Summary	Mechanical failure
Site	Gallatin County, near Bozeman, Montana, USA
Passengers	8
Crew	2
Fatalities	10 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Lockheed Model 14H Super Electra
Operator	Northwest Airlines
Registration	NC17388
Flight origin	Spokane Airport, Washington
Stopover	Butte Airport (BTM/KBTM)
1st stopover	Billings Municipal Airport (BIL/KBIL)
Destination	Chicago-Midway Airport (MDW/KMDW)

Northwest Airlines Flight 2 was a Lockheed Super Electra aircraft, registration NC17388, which crashed into the Bridger Mountains about 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Bozeman, Montana, on January 10, 1938. All ten on board were killed in the accident, which was the first fatal crash of a Northwest Airlines aircraft or a Lockheed Super Electra.

Flight 2 was en route from Seattle, Washington to Chicago, Illinois, with intermediate stops at Spokane, Washington, Butte, Montana, and Billings, Montana. The flight had just left Butte and was flying over Belgrade, Montana when it diverted to the north to avoid a dust storm over Bozeman Pass. The first officer contacted the Northwest Airlines radio operator at 3:05 PM Mountain Standard Time to advise that Flight 2 had reached the cruising altitude of 9,000 feet at 2:53 PM. Ground witnesses reported that as it passed over the Bridger Mountain range (which at the point the aircraft passed over reaches a height of approximately 8,500 feet MSL) the aircraft immediately dropped, went into a stall, glided for a short time, then spun into the ground. The wreckage burst into flames. All aboard died immediately.

The Jan. 11, 1938 edition of "The New York Times" carried the story on the top of its front page and reported in part: "BOZEMAN, Mont., Jan. 10 — A Northwest Airlines transport plane crashed on a snow-covered peak high in the Bridger Mountains fourteen miles northeast of here late today, carrying to their deaths ten persons listed as being aboard. Sheriff Lovitt I. Westlake of Bozeman, who led a party on bobsleds to the crash scene, said he counted nine bodies. He said they were charred beyond recognition. Northwest Airlines officials reported eight passengers and a crew of two were aboard. The fuselage of the plane was burned into a twisted mass of steel. Sheriff Westlake said that the plane appeared to have plunged nose first into the mountainside in a small clearing. Two ranchers, cutting wood on the rugged mountain slope, said they saw the plane burst into flames as it hit the ground."