TODAY IN SEATTLE-AREA HISTORY, Apr 2

A Northwest Orient Airlines Stratocruiser, made by Boeing, ditches into Puget Sound off Vashon Island in 1956, killing five people. The plane had departed from  Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for New York, with 38 people aboard. The pilot, experiencing severe buffeting and reduced power, lands in the water and the tail breaks off. The aircraft sinks in 15 minutes. An Air Force rescue plane on a training mission saves 11 people, and two boys in a rowboat from nearby Maury Island rescue survivors. The accident is traced to an improper setting of the cowl flaps.
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