Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293
Encyclopedia
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293 was an American
military charter operated on the 3 June 1963 by a Northwest Orient Airlines Douglas DC-7C
registered
N290 which crashed into the sea off the coast of Canada with the loss of all 101 crew and passengers on board.
of the United States Air Force to carry 95 serviceman and their families between McChord Air Force Base in Washington state to Elmendorf Air Force Base
in Alaska. The DC-7 departed McChord at 07:52 Pacific Standard Time. The last radio contact was at 10:06 when the crew requested a change of flight level. When nothing more had been heard for more than an hour a search for the aircraft was begun at 11:16. It was not until 19:22 that floating debris was seen located 182.5 miles (293.7 km) WSW of Annette Island
, Alaska.
Approximately 1,500 pounds of wreckage was recovered, it included life vests still encased in their plastic containers and extremely deformed seat frames. None of the bodies of the crew or passengers was ever recovered.
In the previous year, on 22 October 1962, another Northwest Orient DC-7 on the same route (and using the same flight designation) had ditched into the sea off Biorka, Alaska but all the passengers and crew were rescued.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military charter operated on the 3 June 1963 by a Northwest Orient Airlines Douglas DC-7C
Douglas DC-7
The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. It was the last major piston engine powered transport made by Douglas, coming just a few years before the advent of jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.-Design and...
registered
Aircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
N290 which crashed into the sea off the coast of Canada with the loss of all 101 crew and passengers on board.
Accident
Flight 293 was chartered by the Military Air Transport ServiceMilitary Air Transport Service
The Military Air Transport Service is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy Naval Air Transport Service and the United States Air Force Air Transport Command into a single, joint, unified command...
of the United States Air Force to carry 95 serviceman and their families between McChord Air Force Base in Washington state to Elmendorf Air Force Base
Elmendorf Air Force Base
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is a United States military facility adjacent to Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska. It is an amalgamation of the former United States Air Force Elmendorf Air Force Base and the United States Army Fort Richardson, which were merged in 2010.-Overview:The...
in Alaska. The DC-7 departed McChord at 07:52 Pacific Standard Time. The last radio contact was at 10:06 when the crew requested a change of flight level. When nothing more had been heard for more than an hour a search for the aircraft was begun at 11:16. It was not until 19:22 that floating debris was seen located 182.5 miles (293.7 km) WSW of Annette Island
Annette Island
Annette Island, or Taak'w Aan, is an island in Gravina Islands of the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean on the southeastern coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is at . It is about long and about wide. The land area is...
, Alaska.
Approximately 1,500 pounds of wreckage was recovered, it included life vests still encased in their plastic containers and extremely deformed seat frames. None of the bodies of the crew or passengers was ever recovered.
Investigation
With little to go on the accident review board concluded Because of lack of evidence, the Board is unable to determine the probable cause of the accident.In the previous year, on 22 October 1962, another Northwest Orient DC-7 on the same route (and using the same flight designation) had ditched into the sea off Biorka, Alaska but all the passengers and crew were rescued.