Search for Missing Plane in Lake Michigan Ends After Two Decades

A search team, after two decades of effort, is concluding its search for a plane that crashed into Lake Michigan in 1950. The tragic event claimed the lives of all 58 people on board. The team utilized sonar technology and received support from an adventure writer.

The Northwest Orient Flight 2501 crash was the worst aviation disaster in U.S. history at the time. Valerie van Heest, the executive director of the Michigan Shipwreck Association, expressed mixed emotions about ending the search, which began in 2004. She acknowledged a sense of failure but also highlighted the team's efforts to keep the memory of the victims alive.

The team covered a vast area of Lake Michigan, approximately 700 square miles. Scientists now believe the plane disintegrated into fragments too small to be detected by sonar, likely sinking into the lakebed. During the search, the team discovered nine other shipwrecks but not the missing plane.

The search continued independently for a decade, covering an additional 600 square miles. The team located two unmarked graves where victims' remains were buried, but the wreckage remained elusive. The plane, a propeller-driven DC-4, departed from LaGuardia Airport in New York on June 23, 1950, during a storm.

The flight was piloted by 35-year-old Captain Robert C. Lind, with co-pilot Verne F. Wolfe and flight attendant Bonnie Ann Feldman. The passengers included 27 women, 22 men, and six children. Van Heest, who authored a book about the incident, emphasized the impact of the crash.

Author Clive Cussler provided financial support for the search until 2017. Cussler, known for his adventure fiction and underwater explorations, passed away in 2020. He expressed hope that the families of the victims would find closure.