Traveling by plane is the fastest way to travel. I am fascinated by flight. Every time a plane flies over, I stop to watch it. It amazes me that we can fly in airplanes. Can you imagine what it was like to travel cross country by train? I think it would be fun to take the train across the country to check out the scenery. A trip like that takes a couple of days each way, and I don't have time for that, so I'll stick with flying.

While I was growing up there were some notable plane crashes that I can remember. United Flight 232 in Sioux City, IA. It was a catastrophe, however, a lot more lives could have been lost. I remember the fireball vividly, I was 16 at the time of the accident. You can read about the details on Wikipedia.

I don't know what prompted this, but I was thinking about that disaster the other day and got curious about fatal airline disasters in Michigan. I was aware of a couple of them but wanted to find out more. That's why we have the internet. Here's what I found out according to Wikipedia.

Disastrous Plane Crashes in Michigan

Capital Airlines Flight 67 was a U.S. passenger flight operated by Capital Airlines that crashed on its final approach to Freeland, Michigan on April 6, 1958. There was a severe snowstorm at the time of the crash, and all 47 people on board lost their lives. The flight was en route from Flint-Bishop Airport to the Freeland-Tri City Airport (now MBS International Airport) when it crashed.

Comair Flight 3272 was a flight from Cincinnati to Detroit on Thursday, January 9, 1997. The airplane was coming in to land when it crashed nose-first 18 miles southwest of Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. All 29 people aboard the flight—26 passengers and three crew members—were killed.

An attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 occurred on December 25, 2009. It was a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam that was getting ready to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport on August 16, 1987 at about 8:46 PM. All six crew members and 148 of its 149 passengers died. The sole survivor was a 4-year-old girl who sustained serious injuries. This was the second-deadliest aviation accident at the time in the United States. It's also the deadliest aviation accident to have just one survivor.

1990 Wayne County Airport runway collision involved the collision of two Northwest Airlines jetliners at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on December 3, 1990. Flight 1482 taxied by mistake onto an active runway in dense fog and was hit by a departing plane. One crew member and seven passengers on Flight 1482 were killed.

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 was operating its daily transcontinental service between New York City and Seattle when it disappeared on the night of June 23, 1950. The flight had 55 passengers and three crew members. At the time, this was the deadliest commercial airliner accident in America with 58 lives lost.

Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 304 was on its way from Chicago, Illinois to Toronto, Ontario on July 9, 1956, when the No. 4 propeller of the aircraft tore loose from its engine over Flat Rock, Michigan in the United States. One blade of the propeller sliced through the passenger section of the cabin, killing one passenger and injuring four passengers and one flight attendant. The aircraft diverted to Windsor, Ontario in Canada, and the pilots made an emergency landing.

TWA Flight 841 was a domestic, scheduled passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On April 4, 1979, at or around 9:48 PM while flying over Saginaw, Michigan, the plane began a sharp, uncommanded roll to the right, and subsequently went into a spiral dive. The pilots were able to regain control of the aircraft and made a successful emergency landing at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

LOOK: Route 66’s quirkiest and most wonderful attractions state by state

Stacker compiled a list of 50 attractions--state by state--to see along the drive, drawing on information from historic sites, news stories, Roadside America, and the National Park Service. Keep reading to discover where travelers can get their kicks on Route 66.

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