Which scientists died in Mexico's deadliest plane crash up to 1958?

On 2 June 1958, a Lockheed L-749 Constellation operated by Aeronaves de México, registered XA-MEV, took off from Guadalajara as Flight 111. Shortly after take-off it crashed into Cerro La Latilla. All 45 people on board died, making it the deadliest plane crash to have occurred in Mexico up to that time. The cause was attributed to crew error.

Among the victims were two American scientists linked to Pacific fisheries research: oceanographer Townsend Cromwell and fisheries scientist Bell M. Shimada. Both are named individually in the list of victims of the accident, a reminder that by then commercial aircraft were already the usual means of travel for researchers between the United States and Mexico, and that a single catastrophe could wipe out specialists who were hard to replace in a still-young field.

The L-749 was one of the most widely used versions of the original Constellation, before the arrival of the Super Constellation's stretched fuselage. Its range and pressurized cabin made it attractive to airlines around the world, including Latin American carriers such as Aeronaves de México, which used it on domestic and international routes. The same model was involved in other accidents of the era, such as Air India Flight 245 against Mont Blanc in 1950. The Constellation's record, compiled in the list of accidents and incidents of the family, shows just how critical take-off and the initial climb phase were for the large postwar piston four-engine airliners, especially at airports surrounded by terrain.