Buffalo, Leon County
Bound for New York City’s Idlewild Airport with intermediate stops at Dallas Love Field and Washington National Airport, Braniff International Flight 542 departed Houston International Airport on Tuesday, September 29, 1959. At approximately 11:09 pm, the nearly-new Lockheed Electra aircraft was struck by a catastrophic failure of the left-wing structure a few miles east-southeast of Buffalo. Perishing in the crash were 28 passengers, two Braniff employees and six crew members operating the flight. Sixteen passengers were Dallas residents. Pieces of the aircraft were found scattered for miles in the surrounding countryside, affecting the families of the victims and the citizens of the Buffalo area for years to come. Prior to the crash, Braniff was regarded as having one of the best safety records in the airline industry. This was the nation’s first commercial accident with no survivors in 31 years. An initial cause of the crash was unknown, but six months later, a Northwest Airlines Electra aircraft crashed in Indiana under similar circumstances. An extensive analysis determined that an unbalanced outboard engine propeller due to a weakened nacelle structure caused wing oscillations. When the cause was identified, Lockheed developed an immediate program to redesign and modify the Electra global fleet. Despite the tragic loss of life, many thousands were saved because of the redesign and development of the Electra series. Flight 542 was the worst airline disaster for Braniff and the worst in Texas until Braniff Flight 352 in May 1968. (2020)