1954 — Aug 22, Braniff Airways flight 152 crash in thunderstorm, S. of Mason City, IA– 12

–12 AirDisaster.com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 08221954.
–12 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Braniff Airways , 22 Aug 1954.
–12 CAB. AIR. Braniff Airways Inc. – Near Mason City, Iowa, August 22, 1954.
–12 Eckert. “Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981.” AJFM&P, 3/1, March 1982, Table 1.

Narrative Information

Civil Aeronautics Board: “A Braniff Airways DC-3, N 61451, crashed in a farm field approximately 16 miles south of the airport at Mason – City Iowa, at 1703, 1 August 22, 1954. Ten of the 16 passengers aboard were killed and 6 received serious injuries. Of the crew of 3, the captain and first officer were killed, and the stewardess was seriously injured. The aircraft was demolished by ground impact.

“Braniff Airways Flight 152 of August 22, 1954, was a daily scheduled flight between Memphis, Tennessee, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, with intermediate stops at Little Rock and Fort Smith, Arkansas; Muskogee and Tulsa, Oklahoma; Kansas City, Missouri; Des Moines, Waterloo and Mason City, Iowa; Austin and Rochester, Minnesota. Flight 152 departed Memphis, Tennessee, at approximately 0835 and the flight to Kansas City, Missouri, including all scheduled stops, was routine…. Flight 152 was off the ground at Waterloo, Iowa, at 1641….

“Shortly before 1700 Flight 152 was observed on its usual northwest course, but at a lower altitude, about 17 miles south-southeast of the Mason City Airport. This ground witness observed the Braniff DC-3 make a left turn over his farm and proceed almost directly west toward a light spot in a thunderstorm. As Flight 152 headed west at an altitude estimated by several eyewitnesses as 400 to 500 feet above the ground, it was observed to enter and disappear in the thunderstorm approximately 1 mile east of where the wreckage was later found. The crash occurred approximately 8 miles west of where the left turn over the farm was made….The location of the crash is 16 miles south of the Mason City, Iowa, Airport, the destination of Flight 152….

“Damage from the storm in the vicinity of the crash varied considerably. There were trees 12 inches in diameter broken off 18 feet above the ground a mile east of the crash. There was evidence of strong winds from all directions. A mile west of the crash a wooden silo was blown down toward the west and chicken coops twisted on their foundations. A mile west-northwest and a half mile east of the crash, corn stalks had been forced to the ground in 100-foot swirling counterclockwise circles. East of this point corn was blown down generally toward the east but with an occasional northeast or southeast direction. A mile and a half east of the crash 560-foot high H-shaped power line supports were blown down toward the east. The power company owning this line stated the poles were constructed to withstand a steady wind of 85 to 90 m.p.h. ….

“The reason why the flight proceeded into the thunderstorm area at this low altitude rather than hold clear of the storm can only be conjectured. Undoubtedly the captain had encountered many similar appearing storms during his years of operation over the route and it is quite possible that he entered the lighter area between the darker clouds on either side in order to get on the back side of the storm and subsequently land at Mason City….

“The advisory service of the Waverly, Iowa, Air Force radar station (approximately 40 miles southeast of the crash) was available to Flight 152 at any time after the departure from Waterloo, Iowa, however, no contact with the station was made. Procedures to use Air Force radar advisory service had been set up by Braniff’s operations department some months before and were used frequently by Braniff flights….

“The Air Force issued severe weather advisories from Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. These advisories are transmitted on an Air Force teletype circuit and the Weather Bureau forecast centers at Fort Worth, Chicago, and Kansas City have a drop on the circuit. On August 22, 1954, the Air Force issued two severe weather advisories, pertinent to the South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa area, one at 0930 and one at 1614, forecasting heavy thunderstorms, gusts to 50 knots, isolated hail at various altitudes and severe turbulence in thunderstorms. This last advisory forecasted a line of thunderstorms that would have been 60 miles west of Mason City by 1700….

“The Weather Bureau’s forecast for Mason City, Iowa, did not contain information that would properly warn the pilot of conditions that would be encountered, and this is also true of the company forecast. If the storm that developed near Mason City had been anticipated by the forecaster, a severe weather forecast would have been required….

“The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was that the flight while endeavoring to traverse a thunderstorm area encountered very heavy rain, divergent winds, and strong downdrafts that forced the aircraft to the ground.” (CAB. AIR. Braniff Airways Inc. – Near Mason City, Iowa, August 22, 1954.)

Newspaper

MASON CITY. (AP) — A Braniff International Airways DC3, warned not to land here because of a wild storm, crashed into a pasture Sunday, killing 11 of the 19 persons aboard. Eight were injured, two critically…. The plane, northbound from Memphis, Tenn., to Minneapolis, was only about 10 minutes out from the field, Braniff officials said, when they radioed it to hold off landing because of the storm. The field never received an answer, airline officials reported….” (Council Bluffs Nonpareil, IA. “Braniff DC-3 Plane Crashes in Iowa Storm; 11 Killed,” 8-23-1954, p. 1.)

Sources

AirDisaster.com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 08221954. Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=08221954&reg=N61451&airline=Braniff+Airlines

Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Braniff Airways, 22 Aug 1954. Accessed 2/20/2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19540822-0

Civil Aeronautics Board. Accident Investigation Report. Braniff Airways Inc. – Near Mason City, Iowa, August 22, 1954. Washington, DC: CAB, December 27, 1954, 11 pages. Accessed at: http://dotlibrary1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?file&fn=8&name=*P%3A%5CDOT%5Cairplane%20accidents%5Cwebsearch%5C082254.pdf (broken link). Accessed 4-30-2023 at: file:///C:/Users/Wayne/Downloads/dot_33506_DS1.pdf

Eckert, William G. “Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981.” American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Vol. 3, No. 1, March 1982, Table 1.