La Guardia – Newark – Buffalo – Detroit – South Bend – Chicago

On October 30, 1941 at 10:10 PM, La Guardia – Newark – Buffalo – Detroit – South Bend – Chicago experienced a crash involving Douglas DC-3, operated by American Airlines, with the event recorded near Shedden Ontario.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a plain, valley crash site.

20 people were known to be on board, 20 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 4, passengers on board: 16, passenger fatalities: 16, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. While descending to Detroit, the crew was instructed by ATC to abandon the approach due to poor weather conditions. The crew completed several circuits around Detroit to expect a weather improvement without success. After several minutes, due to fuel shortage, the captain decided to divert to London Airport, Ontario. Suddenly, the aircraft pitch down and crashed at an angle of 70° in an open field. All 20 occupants were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration NC25663, MSN 2207, year of manufacture 1940.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 42.7396°, -81.3453°.