Narrative:
A Douglas C-47 transport plane was destroyed when it collided with a hill in instrument weather conditions, killing all four aboard. The flight had left Chicago-Municipal Airport on a cargo flight to Minneapolis. En route the airplane encountered icing conditions. The crew could not maintain height and descended to 2000 feet. A decision was made to return to Chicago. It flew into terrain at an elevation of 1716 feet.
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain
| Status: | |
| Date: | Saturday 25 November 1944 |
| Time: | 23:50 |
| Type: |  Douglas C-47B-1-DL (DC-3) |
| Operator: | United States Army Air Force - USAAF |
| Registration: | 43-16407 |
| MSN: | 20873 |
| First flight: | 1944 |
| Engines: | 2 Pratt & Whitney R-1830-90C |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Aircraft fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | 3 km (1.9 mls) WNW of Blue Mounds, WI ( United States of America)
|
| Crash site elevation: | 523 m (1716 feet) amsl |
| Phase: | En route (ENR) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Chicago Municipal Airport, IL (MDW/KMDW), United States of America |
| Minneapolis-Wold-Chamberlain Field, MN (MSP/KMSP), United States of America |
A Douglas C-47 transport plane was destroyed when it collided with a hill in instrument weather conditions, killing all four aboard. The flight had left Chicago-Municipal Airport on a cargo flight to Minneapolis. En route the airplane encountered icing conditions. The crew could not maintain height and descended to 2000 feet. A decision was made to return to Chicago. It flew into terrain at an elevation of 1716 feet.
Classification:
IcingControlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain
Sources:
» Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945, Vol. 3: August 1944-December 1945 / Anthony J. MirelesPhotos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Chicago Municipal Airport, IL to Minneapolis-Wold-Chamberlain Field, MN as the crow flies is 556 km (348 miles).
Distance from Chicago Municipal Airport, IL to Minneapolis-Wold-Chamberlain Field, MN as the crow flies is 556 km (348 miles).
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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