Braniff International Flight 352

The cockpit voice recorder survived, and the National Transportation Safety Board's transcript shows how the last minutes went. Controllers told the crew that other aircraft had deviated east. The captain told the first officer not to say much more to them, and the first officer said it "looks worse to me over there." After the 180-degree turn the Electra rolled past 90 degrees and its right wing failed under 4.3 g. All 85 aboard died, including state representative Joseph Lockridge. A copy of the tape turned up in 2023 in a Dallas recording studio's archive.

What the plaque says

Braniff International Flight 352 The tragic crash of Braniff International Flight 352 traveling from Houston's Hobby Airport to Dallas' Love Field in 1968 left a lasting influence on Braniff, the citizens of Dawson and the aviation industry. Flight 352 originated at Houston with a final destination of Memphis, Tennessee, with intermediate stops scheduled in Dallas, Tulsa, Fort Smith and Little Rock. The four-engine propjet-powered Lockheed L-188 Electra II airliner departed Houston on May 3, 1968, at 4:11 p.m. for the flight to Dallas. Twenty-three minutes into the flight, the aircraft approached an area of developing and intensifying thunderstorms. Attempting to bypass the storm, the crew decided to descend and deviate to the west, despite being notified that other flights were deviating east. At 4:47 p.m., Flight 352 encountered severe weather, including hail, and began to make a 180 degree turn. At that time, the plane began to roll with the nose pitched down. A roll recovery maneuver was initiated but the right wing failed, then the tail section, causing the plane to break in half. At 4:51 p.m., Fort Worth air traffic control reported the plane missing from radar. The citizens of Dawson were first on the scene to offer assistance. Many witnessed the horrific event that claimed the lives of 80 passengers and five crew members. On June 19, 1969, the National Transportation Safety Board issued the official accident report which determined that passage into a known area of severe weather was the cause. The crash and investigation led to an update of safety and training programs and operational procedures, as well as new federal regulations to address how pilots use radar to avoid storms, all making air travel safer. (2019)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery — 16 mi
  The Freestone County grave of the Texas blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson, who recorded for Paramount in Chicago from 1926 and died there in December 1929.
• Petroleum Industry Park — 19 mi
  The pipes and drilling tower mark where a city water well struck oil on June 9, 1894, the start of the first Texas field to produce oil and gas in important quantities.
• Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historic Site — 20 mi
  Where Limestone County Confederate veterans gathered each summer from 1888, later a water supplier in the Mexia oil boom, now a Texas Historical Commission site on the Navasota River.
• Old Fort Parker — 25 mi
  A rebuilt 1830s family stockade near the Navasota River, where a May 1836 attack killed men of the Parker settlement and took five captives, among them nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker.

More markers nearby

• Town of Dawson — 1.1 mi
• Dr. George Washington Hill — 1.9 mi
• Battle Creek Burial Ground — 2.5 mi
• Former Site of Liberty Hill Settlement — 3.5 mi