What happened
On June 3, 1963, a Northwest Airlines, Inc. MATS charter flight, operating as Flight 293, crashed into the North Pacific Ocean. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-7C registered as N290, was performing a transport mission from McChord AFB, Washington, to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. Onboard were 6 crew members and 95 passengers, consisting of military personnel, Department of Defense employees, dependents, and one Red Cross worker.
The flight had been in the air for roughly two hours and 35 minutes when communication with the aircraft was lost at approximately 1816 GMT. Prior to the loss of radio contact, the crew had not reported any mechanical issues or operational difficulties. The aircraft went down approximately 116 nautical miles west-southwest of Annette Island, Alaska.
Search efforts later identified debris in the vicinity of 54 degrees 21' N and 134 degrees 39' W. A Royal Canadian Air Force plane spotted wreckage at 0322 CMT on June 4, 1963, but no survivors were found. While about 1,500 pounds of floating debris was retrieved from the sea, all 101 occupants perished in the accident and the aircraft was destroyed.
Findings
Due to a lack of available evidence, investigators were unable to establish a definitive reason for the disappearance of the aircraft.