Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 307

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 307
Accident summary
Date 7 March 1950
Site Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
44°54′32.6916″N 93°17′39.2094″W / 44.909081000°N 93.294224833°W
Passengers 10
Crew 3
Fatalities 13 +2
Survivors 0
Aircraft type Martin 2-0-2
Operator Northwest Orient Airlines
Registration N93050

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 307 was a scheduled domestic flight in the United States routing Washington, DC–Detroit–Madison–Rochester–Minneapolis-St. Paul–Winnipeg. On 7 March 1950, the flight was operated by a Martin 2-0-2, registered N93050, when it crashed into a house on approach to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport after first hitting a flagpole.[1] The three crew members and ten passengers on board were all killed, as were two children in the house.[2]

Accident

Flight 307 was attempting to land at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport the area had blowing snow.[1] The left wing hit a 70 foot flagpole about 4,180 feet from the touchdown point and 650 feet west of the approach center line.[1] The aircraft was about 3.8 miles northwest of the airport when a section of the left wing detached and the aircraft dived into the house at 1116 Minnehaha Parkway West[3] from a height of about 300 feet.[1] The aircraft was destroyed by fire and two children in the house were killed.[1]

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Martin 2-0-2 twin-engined piston airliner designed to carry 42 passengers. It had been delivered new to Northwest Orient Airlines on 6 May 1948 as registration N93050.[4]

Probable cause

The probable cause of the crash was an attempt to complete an approach with a loss of visual reference to the ground.[1]

References

Citations
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Civil Aviation Authority 1974, p. 3/50
  2. ↑ Meersman, Tom (29 July 2011), "Keeping a Tragedy from Fading.", Star Tribune (Minneapolis): A1
  3. ↑ http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/03/01/long-forgotten-nwa-crash-in-mpls-stirs-memories/
  4. ↑ Eastwood 1991, p. 267
Bibliography