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]

Northwest Airlines Flight 5

A Douglas DC-3 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
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]

References

External links

• Final report of the Civil Aeronautics Board (PDF)