THE full story of a mysterious Michigan plane crash may never be told as a search crew is ending its efforts.
More than seventy years ago, Northwest Flight 2501 mysteriously disappeared over Lake Michigan while attempting to evade an approaching storm.
In the early hours of a June morning in 1950, a flight that had taken off from LaGuardia Airport in New York crashed into the well-known lake, resulting in the deaths of 58 passengers and ending its journey to Seattle prematurely.
The pilot had requested clearance to drop 1,000 feet due to the intense weather ahead, but was denied due to other air traffic.
Radio silence followed, and they were never heard from again.
At the time, it was the deadliest airline crash in American history.
What was found in the aftermath was oil and debris.
In the days that followed, a grim scene unfolded as body parts and aircraft debris began to wash ashore, as reported by The Detroit News.
The cause was never found after an investigation ensued, and conspiracies into what could have happened sprouted up.
In 2004 – five decades later – researcher Valerie van Heest took an interest in the case, leading to a 20-year search for the wreckage that has now been called off.
Famous writer Clive Cussler reached out to van Heest after media coverage, and funded the investigation into its crash until 2017.
“He offered to send his team down, and you just don’t turn down Clive Cussler, one of the world’s most famous wreck hunters,” van Heest told the Detroit News.
Since then, van Heest, who is the executive director of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association, has written a book about the crash and helped discover victims in cemeteries.
She has also made a traveling exhibit on the flight for museums and ultimately created the most detailed picture of what could have happened in 1950.
The search used sonar technology to scan 700 miles of Lake Michigan, alongside attempting to recreate the weather patterns that could have caused the plane’s fall.
In the end, the wreckage was never found after the intensive hunt after accumulating an estimated price tag of $500,000 and 10,000 hours in time, according to the New York Times.
Timeline of the disappearance
Northwest Flight 2501 vanished on June 23, 1950.
7:30 pm EST: Flight 2501 leaves LaGuardia airport in New York, heading for Seattle with a layover in Minneapolis.
11:51 pm EST: Flight passes over Battle Creek, Michigan. Captain Robert C. Lind alerts air traffic control in Chicago over radio that he estimated they would pass over Milwaukee at 12:37 am EST.
12:13 am EST: Captain Lind requests clearance from air traffic control to 2,500 feet due to storms over Lake Michigan. His request was denied.
This is the last time the plane was heard from.
Source: Michigan Shipwrecks
Researchers concluded that the debris was too small and lay on the lake floor.
“We feel quite confident that a downdraft, also called a microburst, hit the plane,” van Heest continued.
“We know this plane hit the water with great force, and we know there was no way to survive this.”
Van Heest and her team did find out where some remains had been buried, locating mass victim grave sites in two cemeteries.
Plaques were placed at the sites, and ceremonies were held that some victims’ families attended.
Family members had reached out to her over the years, aiding in her quest to put the pieces together.
“My interest was a feeling of responsibility of bringing closure to the families,” van Heest told the Detroit News.
AN AUTHOR’S HOPE
In 2018, after Cussler had bowed out of financially-backing the search, he wrote, “Others have continued to search, and I hope someday the families of those lost will have closure.”
He died in 2020 at 88.
“It’s a hard thing to have to say because part of me feels like we have failed,” she said to the outlet.
“But we have done so much to keep memory of this accident and these victims at forefront that I feel like we’ve done better for them than if we’d found the wreckage.”
