Dallas – Miami – Panama City – Rio de Janeiro

On March 25, 1958 at 06:00 AM, Dallas – Miami – Panama City – Rio de Janeiro experienced a crash involving Douglas DC-7, operated by Braniff International Airways, with the event recorded near Miami-Intl Florida.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

24 people were known to be on board, 9 fatalities were recorded, 15 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 37.5%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 19, passenger fatalities: 9, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. Braniff International Flight 971 was originally scheduled to depart New York, New York, for Miami, Florida, on March 23, 1958, at 2355 but this leg of the flight was not made owing to shortage of equipment and scheduling difficulties on that date. N 5904 was ferried from Dallas, Texas, to Miami, arriving at 1915 on March 24 for use as Flight 971. The aircraft was serviced and made reedy for the trip to Panama City, Panama, the first scheduled stop on the route to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The crew consisted of Captain Thomas D. George, First Officer John C. Winthrop, Jr., Second Officer Charles F. Fink, Steward Alberto Zapatero, and Stewardess Madelon Campion. The flight departed the Miami terminal at 2356, taxied to runway 27R where engine runup was made, after which a normal takeoff was accomplished. Shortly after takeoff, and in accordance with tower clearance, a climbing right turn was started. During the turn the No. 3 engine malfunctioned and a fire developed in that area. The airplane, still in a right turn, started to lose altitude rapidly. While traveling in a north-northeasterly direction it struck in an open marsh containing scattered trees and underbrush. Rescue operations were immediately initiated but were seriously hampered by heavy ground traffic of sightseers attracted to the area. Several of the passengers and crew members were airlifted by U. S. Coast Guard helicopters direct to hospital grounds in Miami and the others were removed to nearby ambulances and taken to hospitals.

Aircraft reference details include registration N5904, MSN 45072, year of manufacture 1957.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 25.7950°, -80.2867°.