On the 3rd of May 1968, a Braniff International Airways flight from Houston-William P. Hobby Airport, TX (HOU/KHOU) to Dallas-Love Field, TX (DAL/KDAL) disintegrated midair and crashed near Dawson, Texas, after encountering a severe thunderstorm. The flight was carrying 5 crew members and 80 passengers, with no survivors. Among the deceased was Texas State Representative Joseph Lockridge, the first African American to represent Dallas County in the Texas Legislature. The investigation determined that the crash resulted from the captain's decision to fly through a heavy storm, leading to structural overstress and airframe failure during an attempted recovery from loss of control in a sharp 180-degree turn made to evade the storm.
Probable Cause: "The aircraft's structure was stressed beyond its ultimate capacity during an attempted recovery from an unusual attitude caused by turbulence within a thunderstorm. This decision to fly through the turbulence stemmed from a choice to enter a region of known severe weather."
This is not the first time this aircraft was involved in an incident.
On the 16th of October 1961 the same aircraft executed an emergency gear-up landing at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas. After departing from Dallas Love Field for Chicago, the landing gear jammed. The plane circled for five hours over Dallas as the crew attempted to deploy the landing gear before commencing the emergency landing. The fuselage sustained severe damage when it was punctured by broken propeller blades.
Aircraft Information:
Airline: Braniff International Airways
Code: BN/BNF
Aircraft: Lockheed L-188A Electra
Registration: N9707C
Serial Number: 1099
Engines: 4 x Allison 501-D13A
First Flew: April 1959
Braniff Airways, Inc. (known as Braniff International Airways from 1948 to 1965 and then as Braniff International until the cessation of its air operations) was a U.S. airline that conducted air carrier operations from 1928 to 1982. Today, it operates as a retail, hospitality, travel service, and brand licensing company, managing the former airline's employee pass program and other administrative duties. Braniff primarily served routes in the Midwestern and Southwestern U.S., Mexico, Central America, and South America, expanding to Asia and Europe in the late 1970s. The airline halted its air carrier operations in May 1982 due to high fuel costs, elevated credit card interest rates, and intense competition from major trunk carriers and new startups prompted by the Airline Deregulation Act of December 1978.
Braniff Airways, Inc. (known as Braniff International Airways from 1948 to 1965 and then as Braniff International until the cessation of its air operations) was a U.S. airline that conducted air carrier operations from 1928 to 1982. Today, it operates as a retail, hospitality, travel service, and brand licensing company, managing the former airline's employee pass program and other administrative duties. Braniff primarily served routes in the Midwestern and Southwestern U.S., Mexico, Central America, and South America, expanding to Asia and Europe in the late 1970s. The airline halted its air carrier operations in May 1982 due to high fuel costs, elevated credit card interest rates, and intense competition from major trunk carriers and new startups prompted by the Airline Deregulation Act of December 1978.
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