HOLLAND, Michigan (10 May 2005) -- It was once called the worst aviation disaster in history: a Northwest airlines flight that went down in Lake Michigan near South Haven in 1950. Why it went down is still a mystery. However, local residents hope that a new short film and a lake search this month will bring closure to the families involved. In 1950, Larry Otto was a 23-year-old junior officer with the U.S. Coast Guard. After just two days on the job, he was ordered to head out on a ship to look for survivors of Northwest flight 2501. It's an experience so profound, that 55 years later, he's still telling his story. The airplane was heading from New York to Minneapolis when it went down near South Haven during a thunderstorm on June 23, 1950. On board was the pilot, the crew, and 55 passengers. "I was on the ship that found the pieces coming up, " said Otto. Larry says to this day he doesn't know why or how the plane plummeted into Lake Michigan. "It was all pieces of airline seats or small pieces of insulation attached to pieces of the airplane." He soon realized there weren't any survivors to be found. "In order to get a picture of this thing, we found a baby's heart on a blanket attached to a seat, we found a lung without the rib cage on another part," explained Otto. Graphic sites for a young man to take, and still for an older man to think back on. Much of the struggle was captured and shown Saturday night in one of four short stories in downtown Holland, part of an annual event called "Mysteries & Histories Beneath the Inland Seas." | | This, as members of the local Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates, based out of Holland, look for pieces of the missing plane this month, hoping to provide some answers. "We began searching earlier this week, and we've covered a lot of ground off of the South Haven area, we haven't found anything yet, but we have many weeks left to go," said Valerie Van Heest, who will be searching throughout the month of May. A difficult task because even though they're using sonar equipment, the plane most likely shattered into thousands of pieces. "This is like searching for a needle in a haystack, because we expect the plane either blew up in mid air, or crash landed into the water," said Van Heest. They're looking to solve the West Michigan mystery, hoping to provide an ending to the short film, and most importantly, to the people affected by the real-life tragedy. "I hope it will give new energy to the people who feel they haven't had closure yet," said Otto. SOURCE - WXMI |
