Site Minneapolis, Minnesota Survivors 0 Registration N93050 Operator Northwest Airlines Survivor 0 Crew count 3 | Passengers 10 Aircraft type Martin 2-0-2 Date 7 March 1950 Fatalities 15 (2 on the ground) Passenger count 10 | |
Summary Pilot error, controlled flight into terrain Similar 1950 Heathrow BEA Vick, Llandow air disaster, 1950 Australian National, TWA Flight 903, 1950 Douglas C‑54D di | ||
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. The three crew members and ten passengers on board were all killed, as were two children in the house.
Contents
Accident
Flight 307 was attempting to land at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport the area had blowing snow. 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. 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 from a height of about 300 feet. The aircraft was destroyed by fire and two children in the house were killed.
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.
Probable cause
The probable cause of the crash was an attempt to complete an approach with a loss of visual reference to the ground.