Braniff International Flight 542

Investigators read this crash from the ground. The wreckage lay in a long narrow ellipse about 13,900 feet from the first recovered item to the nose crater, which was about four feet deep. The center section crater was roughly 200 feet northeast of it, and the tail section lay 250 feet northwest of that. The pattern showed the Electra had broken up in the air. The Civil Aeronautics Board found structural failure of the left wing from undamped propeller whirl mode, and the FAA says the Northwest Airlines crash in Indiana on March 17, 1960 mirrored it.

What the plaque says

Braniff International Flight 542 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)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Boggy State Park — 18 mi
  A 1,847-acre park in Leon County named for a settlers' palisade of 1840, with a 15-acre lake, short trails and the story of Tennessee farmers, the Keechi and a Ranger captain.
• Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery — 36 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.

More markers nearby

• First Baptist Church of Buffalo — 3.3 mi
• Jewett Methodist Church — 10 mi
• Dew Cemetery — 13 mi
• Site of Worthy Store — 13 mi