Northwest Airlines Flight 5 (1941)

Northwest Airlines Flight 5 was a regularly scheduled, multiple stop flight from Chicago Municipal Airport to Boeing Field, Seattle. It had intermediate stops at Minneapolis; Fargo, North Dakota; Billings, Montana; Butte, Montana; and Spokane, Washington. On October 30, 1941, on the flight's leg between Minneapolis and Fargo, the Northwest Airlines Douglas DC-3A-269 operating the route crashed into an open field about 2 1/2 miles east of the Fargo airfield, just after 2:00 am local time. All 12 passengers and two of the three crewmembers aboard were killed.[1] The flight's captain Clarence Bates, the sole survivor, would end up dying himself a year later from another aviation accident in St. Paul, Minnesota.[2]

Northwest Airlines Flight 5
A Douglas DC-3 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
DateOctober 30, 1941 (1941-10-30)
SummaryIcing conditions
SiteMoorhead, Minnesota, United States
46.91525°N 96.74242°W / 46.91525; -96.74242 (approximate)
Aircraft
Aircraft typeDouglas DC-3A-269
RegistrationNC21712
Flight originChicago
1st stopoverMinneapolis, Minnesota
2nd stopoverFargo, North Dakota
3rd stopoverBillings, Montana
4th stopoverButte, Montana
Last stopoverSpokane, Washington
DestinationSeattle
Passengers12
Crew3
Fatalities14
Injuries1
Survivors1

The cause of the crash was determined to be an excessive buildup of ice on the aircraft's wings.[1]

References

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