Kansas City – Chicago

On December 5, 1931 at 12:00 AM, Kansas City – Chicago experienced a crash involving Lockheed 5 Vega, operated by Braniff Airways, with the event recorded near Kewanee Illinois.

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

6 people were known to be on board, 2 fatalities were recorded, 4 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 33.3%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 4, passenger fatalities: 2, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is weather. En route from Kansas City to Chicago, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with snow falls. The crew decided to divert to Kewanee for an emergency landing. On approach, the airplane impacted the roof of a barn and crashed. Two passengers were killed and four other occupants were injured.

Aircraft reference details include registration NC433E, MSN 49, year of manufacture 1929.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 41.2456°, -89.9248°.