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The 1960 Minneapolis Lakers cornfield landing was an aircraft incident where a Douglas DC-3 carrying 23 people, including the coach and players of the Minneapolis Lakers, made an emergency landing in an Iowa cornfield during a snowstorm after having got lost due to an electrical malfunction and poor weather.[1][2][3] The incident has been described as the closest the United States has ever came to losing a professional sports team.[4]
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | January 18, 1960 |
| Summary | Forced landing |
| Site | Carroll, Iowa, U.S. |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-3 |
| Flight origin | St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Destination | Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Occupants | 23 |
| Passengers | 20 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 0 |
Incident
editAfter a game against the St. Louis Hawks, the aircraft took of from St. Louis at around 8:30pm on January 17, after having been delayed for two hours because of weather. About 10 minutes into the flight, the plane suffered an electrical malfunction which took out the plane's heater, lighting, defroster, radio, fuel gauge, and compass amongst others. Flying blind, the pilots decided it was too dangerous to return to the busy St. Louis airport and headed for Minneapolis. Without the plane's navigational equipment, it soon got lost. After around four hours, and low on fuel, the crew spotted the town of Carroll, Iowa. After circling the town a few times, looking for an airport, the pilots successfully made an emergency landing in a nearby cornfield at around 1:30 am on January 18.[5][6][7]
Passengers and crew
editThe plane was crewed by three people. It also carried 20 passengers, including coach Jim Pollard and players Elgin Baylor, Hot Rod Hundley and Bobby Leonard as well as several other players, team personnel, family members and fans.[8][9]
References
edit- ^ David Aldridge (24 January 2000). "The Lakers' plane crash that wasn't". ESPN. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ Scott Ostler; Steve Springer (6 January 1987). "The Night Lakers' Plane Went Down in Iowa Cornfield". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ "Minneapolis Lakers' plane forced down". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 19 January 1960. p. 24. Retrieved 10 October 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Frank Deford (9 February 2011). "The Deadly Plane Crash That Nearly Killed A Sport". NPR. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ Jerry Zgoda (20 January 2020). "Sixty years later, pilot's account of Minneapolis Lakers' plane crash in Iowa cornfield lives on". The Minnesota Star Tribune. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ Jerry Crowe (11 April 2010). "In 1960, the Lakers had their worst trip ever". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ Jimmy Golen (24 May 1992). "1960: Lakers' brush with death". The Daily Times. Associated Press. p. C6. Retrieved 10 October 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Wayne Drehs (28 March 2001). "We're gonna make it. We're gonna make it". ESPN. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ Tim Gallagher (16 January 2010). "Fifty years later, western Iowa remembers harrowing incident". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
