On Tuesday, March 7, 1950, a Martin 2-0-2, registered N93050, was operating the flight when it collided with a flagpole at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on approach to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.

During an attempt to make an emergency landing, a section of the left wing departed the aircraft, rendering it uncontrollable and causing it to crash into the Doughty family house in the Lynnhurst neighborhood of Minneapolis.

After the war, he returned to Northwest and completed captain transition training, receiving an airline transport pilot rating in December 1949, three months before the accident.

Flight 307 took off from Washington, D.C., at 12:30 CST (18:30 UTC) on Tuesday, March 7, 1950, destined for Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, via Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Madison, Rochester, and Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

The flight was delayed in Detroit by an hour and 23 minutes for a mandatory replacement of a ring seal in the hydraulic system, and departed for Madison with no issue.

Indeed, when Flight 307 arrived over Rochester at 20:23 CST (02:23 UTC), it was unable to land due to light freezing rain, so the aircraft continued on toward the Twin Cities Airport in Minneapolis.

At 20:35 CST (02:35 UTC), Flight 307 reported over Stanton, Minnesota, the site of a radio beacon 30 mi (48 km) south of the Twin Cities airport, and six minutes later contacted Minneapolis Approach Control for landing clearance.

In the course of the climb, a 24.5 ft (7.5 m) section of the left wing detached and fell near the southern foot of the Washburn Park Water Tower in the Tangletown neighborhood (44°54′38″N 93°17′03.5″W / 44.91056°N 93.284306°W / 44.91056; -93.284306).

The aircraft continued westerly for an additional 2,640 ft (800 m) before, at 21:02 CST (03:02 UTC), crashing almost vertically into the Doughty family house at 1116 Minnehaha Parkway West (44°54′32.69″N 93°17′39.21″W / 44.9090806°N 93.2942250°W / 44.9090806; -93.2942250) in the Lynnhurst neighborhood of Minneapolis.

[5][1] The aircraft and house, plus two adjacent dwellings (1110 and 1120),[4] were destroyed by fire, and two children, 10-year-old Janet Marie and 8-year-old Thomas Edwin "Tommy" Doughty, sleeping in their beds upstairs, were killed, along with the family dog.

[8] Raising $3,500 USD for a 2.5 t (5,500 lb) boulder and cast aluminum plaque, the memorial was formally dedicated on August 27, 2011, with Diane and surviving family members present.