Almelund, MN Plane Crash North Of Minneapolis, Oct 1950

NWA PLANE CRASHES NORTH OF MINNEAPOLIS; 5 DEAD, ONE INJURED.

SHIP NEARLY HITS HOURSE AT ALMELUND.

Almelund, Minn. (AP) -- A Northwest airlines Martin passenger liner on a routine personnel check flight crashed on the outskirts of Almelund today, killing five of the six persons aboard.
Names of the dead were with held by the airline until relatives could be notified. The airline said passengers included a check pilot an airline captain and four men connected with the civil aeronautics administration.
The sixth passenger was seriously injured. He was taken to the St. Croix Falls, Wis., hospital. His name could not be learned.
Residents of Almelund who saw the ship just before the crash said one engine appeared to be smoking. As they watched the ship apparently went out of control straightened out briefly, wavered again and crashed.
The stricken craft barely missed hitting two houses on the outskirts of Almelund. Four persons were in the houses. In one were MRS. EVA LUNDQUIST and her granddaughter MRS. ARNIE SELMANS. In the other were MR. and MRS. VICTOR SELMANS both believed to be in their 80's. Despite the names, the SELMANS are not related.
Almelund is about 50 miles northeast of Minneapolis from where the ship took off on its fatal flight and just a few miles northwest of the adjoining towns of Taylors Falls, Minn., and St. Croix Falls, Wis.

Austin Daily Herald Minnesota 1950-10-13

-------------------------------------

SURVIVOR OF CRASH UNABLE TO TELL DETAILS.

Almelund (AP) -- One survivor of the crash of a Northwest airlines Martin passenger plane, was still in critical condition in a St. Croix Falls, Wis. hospital today while government and airlines authorities investigated the accident.
The plane crashed shortly before 11 a.m. Friday while on a check flight. Five of the six men aboard were killed. The survivor, BRUCE ERICHSEN, 31, Minneapolis, a civil aeronautics administration airport tower operator, suffered a fractured skull, a compound leg fracture and severe shock.
ERICHSEN was unable to tell investigators of the crash because officials said he was kept alive of his condition. Hospital of- type of blood which the hospital by a single injection of a rare happened to have on hand as a result of a hunting accident last week.
(Transcriber Note: The above paragraph is copied as written in the paper.)
Northwest airlines men killed in the crash were RAYMOND FRANCIS RENDER, 34, Minneapolis, pilot in charge of the check flight and JOHN R. GALT, 37, St. Paul, pilot who was receiving periodic flight examination.
The other three were CAA employes. They were WILLIAM SOLOMON, 36, St. Paul; EVERETT BERGSTROM, Grand Rapids, Mich. and ROBERT H. OLSEN, 37, Rice Lake, Wis.

Austin Daily Herald Minnesota 1950-1014
__________________

Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!