Memphis – Little Rock – Fort Smith – Muskogee – Tulsa – Kansas City – Des Moines – Waterloo – Mason City – Austin – Rochester – Minneapolis

On August 22, 1954 at 05:03 PM, Memphis – Little Rock – Fort Smith – Muskogee – Tulsa – Kansas City – Des Moines – Waterloo – Mason City – Austin – Rochester – Minneapolis experienced a crash involving Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3), operated by Braniff International Airways, with the event recorded near Mason City Iowa.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a plain, valley crash site.

19 people were known to be on board, 12 fatalities were recorded, 7 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 63.2%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 16, passenger fatalities: 10, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is weather. Probable cause: The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was that the flight while endeavouring to traverse a thunderstorm area encountered very heavy rain, divergent winds, and strong downdrafts that forced the aircraft to the ground. The following findings were reported: - The flight was observed to enter and disappear in a thunderstorm, - The aircraft crashed in an area where severe storm ground damage occurred, - The US Weather Bureau Kansas City received the USAF severe weather advisories but considered their forecast in effect at the time to be adequate, - The weather forecast issued by the Weather Bureau and Braniff did not indicate the severity of the storm that was encountered.

Aircraft reference details include registration N61451, MSN 4630, year of manufacture 1942.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 43.1525°, -93.2018°.