Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501
| Occurrence summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | June 23, 1950 |
| Summary | Unexplained disappearance |
| Site |
Lake Michigan 42°22′N 86°37′W / 42.367°N 86.617°WCoordinates: 42°22′N 86°37′W / 42.367°N 86.617°W |
| Passengers | 55 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 58 (all presumed; only body fragments found) |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-4 (former C-54) |
| Operator | Northwest Orient Airlines |
| Registration | N95425(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 |
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 was a DC-4 propliner 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 on board made it the deadliest commercial airliner accident in American history at the time.
The aircraft was at approximately 3,500 feet (1,100 m) over Lake Michigan, 18 miles (29 km) NNW of Benton Harbor, Michigan when it vanished from radar screens after requesting a descent to 2,500 feet (760 m). 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.The disappearance was the deadliest aviation disaster since the Llandow air disaster earlier that year, which killed 80.
It is known that Flight 2501 was entering a squall line and turbulence, but since the plane's wreckage was not found, the cause of the crash was never determined. The incident was reported as follows:
A Northwest Airlines DC-4 airplane with fifty-eight persons aboard, last reported over Lake Michigan early today, was still missing tonight after hundreds of planes and boats had worked to trace the craft or any survivors. All air and surface craft suspended search operations off Milwaukee at nightfall except the Coast Guard cutter Woodbine. The airplane, a four-engine 'air coach' bound from New York to Minneapolis and Seattle, was last heard from at 1:13 o'clock this morning, New York Time, when it reported that it was over Lake Michigan, having crossed the eastern shore line near South Haven, Mich. The craft was due over Milwaukee at 1:27 A.M. and at Minneapolis at 3.23 A.M. If all aboard are lost, the crash will be the most disastrous in the history of American commercial aviation. The plane carried a capacity load of fifty-five passengers and a crew of three, headed by Capt. Robert Lind, 35 years old, of Hopkins, Minn. In Minneapolis, Northwest Airlines said the craft was 'presumed to be down,' and that they were beginning notification of relatives of passengers. In his last report, Captain Lind requested permission to descend from 3,500 to 2,500 feet because of a severe electrical storm which was lashing the lake with high velocity winds. Permission to descend was denied by the Civil Aeronautic Authority because there was too much traffic at the lower altitude.
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