Tulsa 1957: American Airlines Convair crash near Owasso
One of the unusual events of 1957 was the January 6th crash of an American Airlines Convair 240 en route from Joplin to Tulsa. The plane was west of Owasso on approach to Tulsa Municipal Airport. Three crew and seven passengers were aboard. One passenger was killed. The cause of the crash:
Struck trees, hit the ground, and slid 500 ft. after landing short of the runway in rapidly deteriorating condtions. The captain's lack of alertness in allowing the first officer to continue an instrument descent to an altitude too low to permit terrain clearance.
Here is a link to the coverage and photos of the crash from the January 10, 1957, edition of the Collinsville News.
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There was also a B-52 which broke-up in flight and rained debris on Skiatook in 1957. There's not much information on the web but it was apparently a test flight that originated in Wichita and ended badly - no survivors. KRMG reporter Frank Morrow gave an account including:
"...It took me over an hour to reach the site. And what a sight! The bomber had exploded in mid-air, scattering debris over more than a quarter-mile square area. There was an unopened parachute dangling from a tree. What was left of the cockpit was lying in an open field. When I got there, the rescue crew had just extracted what remained of the bodies. Inside the cockpit were pieces of flesh and a lot of blood. The houses in the area had pieces of the airplane in their yards. A few homes had large sections of metal which were resting on their roofs, while others had large chunks of debris leaning against the walls or lying on open porches..."
Full account here (bottom of page):
http://tulsatvmemories.com/1957.html
When I was a very young boy I remember seeing an aircraft engine lying in a Tulsa street. I believe it was located near 31st and Memorial and was from a plane that exploded over Tulsa. My mother was in the area at the time. She heard the explosion, looked out a window and saw parts falling. I believe it would have been in the late 1950s, but neither of the crashes above fits the location very well. My mother has now passed on. Could there have been another exploding aircraft in the area around the same time?