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, test-flying a Consolidated B-24.[2]
![]() A Douglas DC-3 similar to the accident aircraft | |
Accident | |
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Date | October 30, 1941 (1941-10-30) |
Summary | Icing conditions |
Site | Moorhead, Minnesota, United States 46.91525°N 96.74242°W / 46.91525; -96.74242 (approximate) |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Douglas DC-3A-269 |
Registration | NC21712 |
Flight origin | Chicago |
1st stopover | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
2nd stopover | Fargo, North Dakota |
3rd stopover | Billings, Montana |
4th stopover | Butte, Montana |
Last stopover | Spokane, Washington |
Destination | Seattle |
Passengers | 12 |
Crew | 3 |
Fatalities | 14 |
Injuries | 1 |
Survivors | 1 (Clarence F. Bates) |
The cause of the crash was determined to be an excessive buildup of ice on the aircraft's wings.[1]
Northwest Airlines (Northwest Orient) | |||
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History |
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Destinations |
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Aviation accidents and incidents in 1941 (1941) | |
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1940 ◀ ▶ 1942 |