Minneapolis – Chicago

On February 3, 1921 at 12:00 AM, Minneapolis – Chicago experienced a crash involving De Havilland DH.4, operated by U.S. Air Mail Service, with the event recorded near Minneapolis-Saint Paul Minnesota.

The flight was categorized as postal (mail) and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

2 people were known to be on board, 1 fatalities were recorded, 1 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 50.0%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. After takeoff from Minneapolis-Wold Chamberlain Field, while climbing to an altitude of 2,500 feet, the left engine failed. The pilot made a sharp turn when the airplane side slipped and went into a nose dive. It crashed in Mendota, about 4 km east of the airfield. One occupant was killed and the second was injured. The accident occurred 10 minutes after takeoff.

Aircraft reference details include registration 130.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 44.9227°, -93.0555°.