| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | January 18, 1960 |
| Summary | Forced landing |
| Site | Carroll, Iowa, U.S. 42°05′03″N 94°51′25″W / 42.0843°N 94.8570°W / 42.0843; -94.8570 |
| 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 |
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. The incident has been described as the closest the United States has ever came to losing a professional sports team.
Incident
After 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.
Passengers and crew
The 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.
References
- Carroll Daily Times Herald, January 18, 1960. "The plane rolled to a stop four-tenths of a mile north of 18th street and a couple hundred yards east of Grant Road."
- David Aldridge (January 24, 2000). "The Lakers' plane crash that wasn't". ESPN. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- Scott Ostler; Steve Springer (January 6, 1987). "The Night Lakers' Plane Went Down in Iowa Cornfield". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- "Minneapolis Lakers' plane forced down". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 19, 1960. p. 24. Retrieved October 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- Frank Deford (February 9, 2011). "The Deadly Plane Crash That Nearly Killed A Sport". NPR. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- Jerry Zgoda (January 20, 2020). "Sixty years later, pilot's account of Minneapolis Lakers' plane crash in Iowa cornfield lives on". The Minnesota Star Tribune. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- Jerry Crowe (April 11, 2010). "In 1960, the Lakers had their worst trip ever". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- Jimmy Golen (May 24, 1992). "1960: Lakers' brush with death". The Daily Times. Associated Press. p. C6. Retrieved October 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- Wayne Drehs (March 28, 2001). "We're gonna make it. We're gonna make it". ESPN. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- Tim Gallagher (January 16, 2010). "Fifty years later, western Iowa remembers harrowing incident". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved October 10, 2024.