- ACCIDENT DETAILS
Date: March 26, 1939
Time: 1448
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Operator: Braniff Airlines
Flight #: 1
Route: Chicago - Kansas City - Wichita - Oklahoma City - Dallas
AC Type: Douglas DC-2-112
Registration: NC13727
cn / ln: 1253
Aboard: 12   (passengers:9  crew:3)
Fatalities: 8   (passengers:7  crew:1)
Ground: 0
Summary: An explosion in an engine, just after takeoff blew the two halves of the cowl open creating excessive drag and causing the left wing to drop. The captain tried to circle back, but the wing impacted an embankment along a section line road and crashed about 100 yards inside the boundary. Either the hot metal of the engines or some other source ignited the fuel spilling out of the ruptured tank and the cabin was quickly engulfed in flames. The initial cause of the explosion was a cylinder blow out which was a problem with that particular engine and had caused problems in two other aircraft, a TWA and United DC-2, both of which landed safely.
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