Braniff International Airways Flight 250

(Redirected from Braniff Airways Flight 250) 1966 aviation accident

Braniff International Airways Flight 250
accident
N1553 pictured at Dallas Love Field in July 1966, several weeks prior to the accident
Date	August 6, 1966
Summary	In-flight structural failure
Site	Richardson County, near Falls City, Nebraska, U.S. 40°10′29.80″N 95°32′20.30″W / 40.1749444°N 95.5389722°W / 40.1749444; -95.5389722
Aircraft
Aircraft type	BAC 1-11-203AE
Operator	Braniff Airways
Registration	N1553
Flight origin	New Orleans International Airport
1st stopover	Shreveport Regional Airport
2nd stopover	Fort Smith Regional Airport
3rd stopover	Tulsa International Airport
4th stopover	Kansas City Municipal Airport
5th stopover	Omaha Eppley Airfield
Destination	Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport
Passengers	38
Crew	4
Fatalities	42
Survivors	0

class=notpageimage| Location in the United States

class=notpageimage| Location in Nebraska on a farm north of Falls City, and east of Verdon, Nebraska

Braniff International Airways Flight 250 crashed near Falls City, Nebraska, on August 6, 1966, en route to Omaha from Kansas City, Missouri. Thirty-eight passengers and four crew members were killed in the crash, which occurred in a farm field late on a Saturday night. In-flight structural failure due to extreme turbulence in an avoidable weather hazard was cited as the cause.

Aircraft

The aircraft was a BAC 1-11-203AE, registration N1553. It was manufactured by British Aircraft Corporation in December 1965.

Flight crew

The cockpit crew consisted of Captain Donald Pauly, 47, and First Officer James Hilliker, 39.

Captain Pauly was highly experienced with 20,767 flying hours, 549 of which were in the BAC-1-11. He possessed type ratings in other aircraft including the DC-3, DC-6, DC-7, and the Convair family.

First Officer Hilliker was less experienced, with 9,269 flying hours, 685 in the BAC-1-11. According to the NTSB report, he had two type ratings in the BAC-1-11 and the Convair family.

Flight

(All times Central Standard Time (UTC –6); Daylight time was used only in Minnesota along the flight's route until 1967.)

Flight 250 was operated by Braniff between New Orleans and Minneapolis with stops in between at Shreveport, Fort Smith, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Omaha. It departed Kansas City at 22:55 on an IFR clearance to Omaha at FL200 (20,000 feet (6,100 m)). However, the crew asked if they could remain at 5,000 feet (1,520 m) because of the weather. The flight remained at 6,000 feet (1,830 m) until permission was received at 23:06 to descend to 5,000 feet. At 23:08, the crew contacted a Braniff flight that had just departed Omaha's Eppley Airfield, which reported moderate to light turbulence.

About four minutes later, Flight 250 entered an updraft within an area of active squall line of severe thunderstorms. The 1-11 violently accelerated upward and in a left roll. At this time the right tailplane and the vertical stabilizer failed. The aircraft then pitched nose down and within one or two seconds the right wing failed as well. The plane tumbled down in flames until entering a flat spin before impacting the ground, approximately midway between Kansas City and Omaha. The probable cause was in-flight structural failure caused by extreme turbulence during operation of the aircraft in an area of avoidable hazardous weather.

This was the first fatal crash of a BAC 1-11 in the United States; it occurred in southeast Nebraska in Richardson County on a farm, about seven miles (11 km) north-northeast of Falls City, in a soybean field only 500 feet (150 m) from a farmhouse. The farm owner and his family were returning home in an automobile at the time of impact (23:12), and were about a half-mile (0.8 km) away. The elevation of the site is approximately 1,100 feet (340 m) above sea level.

Investigation

Braniff regulations prohibited a plane from being dispatched into an area with a solid line of thunderstorms; nonetheless, the company forecast was somewhat inaccurate with respect to the number and intensity of thunderstorms and the intensity of the associated turbulence. Braniff dispatchers were aware that their flight 255 had delayed departing Sioux City for Omaha by one hour to allow the storm to pass Omaha; they also knew that their flight 234 from St. Louis to Des Moines had diverted to Kansas City due to the storm. They did not inform the crew of these events believing they were too far from the route of flight 250 to be relevant. The crew was aware of the severe weather, however, and the first officer suggested that they divert around the activity. The captain instead elected to continue the flight into the edges of the squall line.

Dr. Ted Fujita, a renowned weather researcher and professor of meteorology at the University of Chicago, was hired by British Aircraft Corporation, the manufacturer of the BAC 1-11, to study how the weather affected the jet. Dr. Fujita is recognized as the discoverer of downbursts and microbursts and also developed the Fujita scale, which differentiates tornado intensity and links tornado damage with wind speed.

Notably, the accident was the first with a U.S.-registered aircraft in which a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was used to aid in the investigation. Just before the breakup, the device recorded Captain Pauly instructing First Officer Hilliker to adjust the engine power settings. He was interrupted mid-sentence by buffeting so severe that no more dialog could be discerned on the recording, which continued even after the wings and tail separated from the aircraft. Since the flight data recorder (FDR) was destroyed in the crash, the changes in the buffeting sound would later be used to estimate the airplane's changes in speed and altitude during the accident sequence.

Aftermath

At its fortieth anniversary in 2006, a memorial was placed at the crash site. A fiftieth anniversary memorial event, planned by the county's historical society, was attended by a hundred in 2016.

In popular culture

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

This crash is covered in detail in the book Air Disaster (Vol. 1) by Macarthur Job, illustrated by Matthew Tesch, and also in Deadly Turbulence: The Air Safety Lessons of Braniff Flight 250 and Other Airliners, 1959-1966, by Steve Pollock.

The U.S. television drama Mad Men referenced this accident briefly in the season 5 episode "Signal 30". In the series, client Mohawk Airlines also operated the BAC 1-11.

References

^ "Flaming jet crashes killing all 42 aboard". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. August 8, 1966. p. 1.
Schock, Bill (August 19, 1966). "Back to normal after hectic days". Falls City Journal. (Nebraska). (reprinted August 8, 2016). Retrieved April 24, 2021.
^ Salter, Peter (August 1, 2016). "Fire in the sky: 50 years ago, a jetliner carrying 42 people fell out of a stormy sky near Falls City". Lincoln Journal Star. (Nebraska). Retrieved April 24, 2021.
^ "Plane crash kills 42". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. August 8, 1966. p. 1, part 1.
"Clues sought in Nebraska crash". Milwaukee Journal. wire services. August 8, 1966. p. 2, part 1.
^ "Aircraft Accident Report: Braniff Airways, Inc., BAC 1-11, N1553, Near Falls City, Nebraska, August 6, 1966" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. April 18, 1968. Retrieved April 8, 2014 – via Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Library.
Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident BAC One-Eleven 203AE N1553 Falls City, NE". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
"FAA Registry (N1553)". Federal Aviation Administration.
"42 Die In U.S. Air Crash; "Fireball" of One-Eleven". The Times. August 8, 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
"Passenger List". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
^ "Probe continues in Braniff plane crash". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. August 8, 1966. p. 1.
"Ball of fire seen coming from sky". Herald-Tribune. (Sarasota, Florida). Associated Press. August 8, 1966. p. 1.
"Satellite image of crash location". Google Maps. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
Olberding, Matt (30 July 2016). "Braniff crash probe was first to use cockpit voice recorder". Retrieved 31 January 2018.
"Crash probe: Recorder is 'useless'". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). UPI. August 8, 1966. p. 1A.
^ McKim, Nikki (August 8, 2016). "A day of emotional remembrance and healing". Falls City Journal. (Nebraska). Retrieved April 24, 2021.
McKim, Nikki (August 1, 2016). "50th anniversary of air crash to be observed". Falls City Journal. (Nebraska). Retrieved April 24, 2021.
"Deadly Turbulence – The Air Safety Lessons of Braniff Flight 250 and Other Airliners, 1959-1966". Retrieved 2023-10-20.
Hale, Mike (2012-04-16). "'Mad Men' Recap: Despair and Fisticuffs". ArtsBeat. Retrieved 2023-10-20.

External links

NTSB brief of the accident National Transportation Safety Board
DeadlyTurbulence.com - Braniff Flight 250
BAC 111 N1553 BraniffPages.com
Braniff 250 Pilotfriend
Aviation Safety Network - Braniff - N1553
Nebraska Air Crash - Braniff Airways - Flight 250

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1966 (1966)
Jan 14 Avianca Flight 03Jan 17 Palomares incidentJan 24 Air India Flight 101Jan 28 Lufthansa Flight 005Feb 2 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 17Feb 4 All Nippon Airways Flight 60Feb 16 Aeroflot Flight 302Feb 17 Aeroflot Flight 65Feb 28 NASA T-38 crashMar 4 Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402Mar 5 BOAC Flight 911Mar 18 United Arab Airlines Flight 749Apr 22 American Flyers Airline Flight 280/DApr 23 Aeroflot Flight 2723Apr 27 LANSA Flight 501Jun 3 Felthorpe Trident crashJun 29 Philippine Air Lines Flight 785Jul 4 Air New Zealand DC-8 crashJul 22 Holden's Lightning flightAug 6 Braniff Flight 250Sep 1 Britannia Airways Flight 105Sep 22 Ansett-ANA Flight 149Sep 28 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 648 hijackingOct 1 West Coast Airlines Flight 956Nov 13 All Nippon Airways Flight 533Nov 15 Pan Am Flight 708Nov 24 TABSO Flight 101Dec 24 Flying Tiger Line Canadair CL-44 crash
1965 ◄ ► 1967

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1966 (1966)

Jan 14 Avianca Flight 03Jan 17 Palomares incidentJan 24 Air India Flight 101Jan 28 Lufthansa Flight 005Feb 2 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 17Feb 4 All Nippon Airways Flight 60Feb 16 Aeroflot Flight 302Feb 17 Aeroflot Flight 65Feb 28 NASA T-38 crashMar 4 Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402Mar 5 BOAC Flight 911Mar 18 United Arab Airlines Flight 749Apr 22 American Flyers Airline Flight 280/DApr 23 Aeroflot Flight 2723Apr 27 LANSA Flight 501Jun 3 Felthorpe Trident crashJun 29 Philippine Air Lines Flight 785Jul 4 Air New Zealand DC-8 crashJul 22 Holden's Lightning flightAug 6 Braniff Flight 250Sep 1 Britannia Airways Flight 105Sep 22 Ansett-ANA Flight 149Sep 28 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 648 hijackingOct 1 West Coast Airlines Flight 956Nov 13 All Nippon Airways Flight 533Nov 15 Pan Am Flight 708Nov 24 TABSO Flight 101Dec 24 Flying Tiger Line Canadair CL-44 crash

1965 ◄ ► 1967

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1960s
1960	National Airlines Flight 2511 (January 6 1960) Capital Airlines Flight 20 (January 18 1960) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710 (March 1960) Chicago Helicopter Airways Flight 698 (July 1960) World Airways Flight 830 (September 1960)* Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 (October 4 1960) Cal Poly football team (October 29 1960) New York mid-air collision (December 1960)
1961	Goldsboro B-52 crash (January 24 1961) American Airlines Flight 1502 (January 28 1961) Yuba City B-52 crash (March 1961) United Air Lines Flight 859 (July 11 1961) Alaska Airlines Flight 779 (July 21 1961) TWA Flight 529 (September 1 1961) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 (September 17 1961) Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 (November 8 1961) Cincinnati Zantop DC-4 crash (November 14 1961)
1962	American Airlines Flight 1 (March 1962) Continental Airlines Flight 11 (May 1962) Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301 (July 1962) United Air Lines Flight 297 (November 23 1962) Eastern Air Lines Flight 512 (November 30 1962)
1963	Elephant Mountain B-52 (January 1963) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 (February 1963) Camden PA-24 (March 1963) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293 (June 1963) Mohawk Airlines Flight 112 (July 1963) Pan Am Flight 214 (December 1963)
1964	Savage Mountain B-52 crash (January 1964) Eastern Air Lines Flight 304 (February 1964) Paradise Airlines Flight 901A (March 1964) Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 (May 1964) United Air Lines Flight 823 (July 1964) Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114 (November 1964) Flying Tiger Line Flight 282 (December 1964)
1965	USAF KC-135 Wichita (January 1965) Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 (February 1965) Pan Am Flight 843 (June 1965) Continental Airlines Flight 12 (July 1 1965) Allegheny Airlines Flight 604 (July 23 1965) United Air Lines Flight 389 (August 1965) American Airlines Flight 383 (November 8 1965) United Air Lines Flight 227 (November 11 1965) Carmel mid-air collision (December 1965)
1966	NASA T-38 crash (February 1966) American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D (April 1966) Braniff International Airways Flight 250 (August 1966) West Coast Airlines Flight 956 (October 1966)
1967	Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 (March 5 1967) TWA Flight 553 (March 9 1967) West Coast Airlines Flight 720 (March 10 1967) Delta Air Lines Flight 9877 (March 30 1967) Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 (June 1967) Piedmont Airlines Flight 22 (July 1967) Lake Erie skydiving disaster (August 1967) TWA Flight 159 (November 6 1967) X-15 Flight 3-65-97 (November 15 1967) TWA Flight 128 (November 20 1967)
1968	Ozark Air Lines Flight 965 (March 1968) Braniff International Airways Flight 352 (May 3 1968) Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 (May 22 1968) Los Angeles Airways Flight 417 (August 1968) Northeast Airlines Flight 946 (October 1968) Japan Air Lines Flight 2 (November 22 1968) Pan Am Flight 281 (November 24 1968) Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 (December 2 1968) Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 (December 24 1968) Pan Am Flight 799 (December 26 1968) Ozark Air Lines Flight 982 (December 27 1968) North Central Airlines Flight 458 (December 27 1968)
1969	Allegheny Airlines Flight 737 (January 6 1969) Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 (January 13 1969) United Air Lines Flight 266 (January 18 1969) Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 (February 1969) Prinair Flight 277 (March 5 1969)* Delta Air Lines Flight 821 (March 25 1969) TWA Flight 5787 (July 1969) Newton Cessna 172 crash (August 1969) Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 (September 1969) Mohawk Airlines Flight 411 (November 1969)
This list is incomplete. An asterisk (*) denotes an incident that took place in a U.S. territory. 1950–1959 ◄ 1960–1969 ► 1970–1979

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