Disappearance of Northwest Airlines Flight 2501.
Jul 6, 2020 14:47:01 GMT
politicidal and mecano04 like this
Post by hi224 on Jul 6, 2020 14:47:01 GMT
8:30 PM EST, LaGuardia Airport, NYC
Captain Robert C. Lind , with his co-pilot Verne F. Wolfe, sat in the cockpit, waiting for the passengers to sit down. It was their normal routine, and they were used to it. Some info: Captain Lind had recieved an advisory at 7:45 warning about thunderstorms and squalls.
The flight plan was to cruise at 6000 feet until they reach Minneapolis.
And a bit of a while after, they were up. It was relatively smooth sailing, until they reached Cleveland, where Lind requested to go lower to 4000 feet. ATC approved, and 40 minutes later they were at 3500 feet.
11:51 PM EST, Battle Creek, MI
At this time, Captain Lind entered the area of the storm. Captain Lind radioed in and let ATC in Chicago know that his estimation was that he would pass over Milwaukee in 46 minutes. This was crucial.
At the course they were going at, they would cross in airway "Red 57", which heads northeast from Battle Creek to Milwaukee. There was, however, a squall line raging in that path. A storm startig forming, and by midnight, there was a thunderstorm in the skies.
Then, at 12:13 AM EST, Captain Lind radioed in to ATC at Benton Harbor with a request to descend to 2500 feet. He however, did not indicate why. ATC denied his request due to traffic in the area, and that was the last anyone was in contact with Flight 2501. There however, was a witness near South Haven who experienced someting. That will be in notes below.
The Next Day
At dawn it was clear that something had happened to Flight 2501. It had failed to fly over Milwaukee, and it didn't show up at Minneapolis. Coast Guard and civilian volunteers set about a search, and they managed to find a bit of debris and an oil slick, indication that there were probably no survivors. At this time, it was the worst commercial aviation disaster at the time.
Over the course of a week, the official search ensured, with five destroyers finding more evidence of something bad had happened.
And after the search was officially called off five days afterwards, body parts and debris kept washing up on the beaches. The Coast Guard were able to get divers to the oil slick, but they couldn't go any farther because of bad visibility conditions and the silty bottom.
Witness Statements
Jackie Eldred, wife at the time, was in her home when she was woken by a roar. She was frantic, so she woke her husband and toddler. Her statement -> "It sounded like a plane came over our house and it went away and it acme back again," said Eldred. "It was lower and louder eveyr time. I woke my husband up all of the sudden there was a big bang and I screamed." According to the MLive interview she did, she said it jolted their home, which was a quarter of a mile from the shoreline.
Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) crash report findings
Carrier, crew, and aircraft were properly certificated.
Crew were thorougly briefed on weather through the journey before the disappearance
An updated forecast was issued one hour and 40 minutes prior to the disappearance, but couldn't be made available in time for the flight
No reports of difficulty
Request of descent, but traffic in the area restricted that
Time of crash, there was a squall line
Intensive search, only a smattering of debris and body parts were recovered.
MAIN FINDING: No sufficient evidence upon which to make a deterination of probable cause.
Aftermath
A forgotten grave was found unmarked in South Haven with the victims. And on June 24, 2015, the 65th anniversary of the disappearance, there was a memorial service.
Another grave can be found in St. Joseph, at 2925 Niles Road.
There is still a search going on right now, with it being led by Valerie Van Heest. She has written a book about it, Fatal Crossing, and has led multiple searches, which have only turned up about 10 shipwrecks.
My Theory: This is a hard one. I personally think it was struck by lightning, some stray charge managed to get to the engines or something, and it blew up. However, while likely, it hasn't been verified. Remember, these were the 1950s, not the 2000s. Safety was harder to do at that time.
Thanks for letting me share this! I'm curious to see what your theories are! I linked my sources throughout the post.
Captain Robert C. Lind , with his co-pilot Verne F. Wolfe, sat in the cockpit, waiting for the passengers to sit down. It was their normal routine, and they were used to it. Some info: Captain Lind had recieved an advisory at 7:45 warning about thunderstorms and squalls.
The flight plan was to cruise at 6000 feet until they reach Minneapolis.
And a bit of a while after, they were up. It was relatively smooth sailing, until they reached Cleveland, where Lind requested to go lower to 4000 feet. ATC approved, and 40 minutes later they were at 3500 feet.
11:51 PM EST, Battle Creek, MI
At this time, Captain Lind entered the area of the storm. Captain Lind radioed in and let ATC in Chicago know that his estimation was that he would pass over Milwaukee in 46 minutes. This was crucial.
At the course they were going at, they would cross in airway "Red 57", which heads northeast from Battle Creek to Milwaukee. There was, however, a squall line raging in that path. A storm startig forming, and by midnight, there was a thunderstorm in the skies.
Then, at 12:13 AM EST, Captain Lind radioed in to ATC at Benton Harbor with a request to descend to 2500 feet. He however, did not indicate why. ATC denied his request due to traffic in the area, and that was the last anyone was in contact with Flight 2501. There however, was a witness near South Haven who experienced someting. That will be in notes below.
The Next Day
At dawn it was clear that something had happened to Flight 2501. It had failed to fly over Milwaukee, and it didn't show up at Minneapolis. Coast Guard and civilian volunteers set about a search, and they managed to find a bit of debris and an oil slick, indication that there were probably no survivors. At this time, it was the worst commercial aviation disaster at the time.
Over the course of a week, the official search ensured, with five destroyers finding more evidence of something bad had happened.
And after the search was officially called off five days afterwards, body parts and debris kept washing up on the beaches. The Coast Guard were able to get divers to the oil slick, but they couldn't go any farther because of bad visibility conditions and the silty bottom.
Witness Statements
Jackie Eldred, wife at the time, was in her home when she was woken by a roar. She was frantic, so she woke her husband and toddler. Her statement -> "It sounded like a plane came over our house and it went away and it acme back again," said Eldred. "It was lower and louder eveyr time. I woke my husband up all of the sudden there was a big bang and I screamed." According to the MLive interview she did, she said it jolted their home, which was a quarter of a mile from the shoreline.
Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) crash report findings
Carrier, crew, and aircraft were properly certificated.
Crew were thorougly briefed on weather through the journey before the disappearance
An updated forecast was issued one hour and 40 minutes prior to the disappearance, but couldn't be made available in time for the flight
No reports of difficulty
Request of descent, but traffic in the area restricted that
Time of crash, there was a squall line
Intensive search, only a smattering of debris and body parts were recovered.
MAIN FINDING: No sufficient evidence upon which to make a deterination of probable cause.
Aftermath
A forgotten grave was found unmarked in South Haven with the victims. And on June 24, 2015, the 65th anniversary of the disappearance, there was a memorial service.
Another grave can be found in St. Joseph, at 2925 Niles Road.
There is still a search going on right now, with it being led by Valerie Van Heest. She has written a book about it, Fatal Crossing, and has led multiple searches, which have only turned up about 10 shipwrecks.
My Theory: This is a hard one. I personally think it was struck by lightning, some stray charge managed to get to the engines or something, and it blew up. However, while likely, it hasn't been verified. Remember, these were the 1950s, not the 2000s. Safety was harder to do at that time.
Thanks for letting me share this! I'm curious to see what your theories are! I linked my sources throughout the post.
