Braniff International Airways Flight 352 was a scheduled domestic flight from William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas, United States, to Dallas Love Field in Dallas; on May 3, 1968, a Lockheed L-188A Electra flying on the route, registration N9707C, broke up in midair and crashed near Dawson, Texas, after flying into a severe thunderstorm.

[2] At 16:11, the crew departed William P. Hobby Airport as Braniff Flight 352, a Lockheed L-188A Electra four-engine turboprop, en route to Dallas Love Field.

About 25 minutes into the flight, while cruising at FL200 (about 20,000 feet (6,100 m) above mean sea level), the aircraft approached an area of severe thunderstorm activity.

"[2] At 16:47 the flight encountered an area of severe weather including hail and requested a 180-degree right turn, which ATC immediately approved.

As the crew attempted to recover from the ensuing steep diving turn, the aircraft experienced acceleration forces of over 4 g, which caused the right wing to fail.

[1][2] Witnesses said the four-engine turboprop Electra—a modified version of the trouble-plagued Lockheed aircraft that had experienced two wing failure accidents in 1959 and 1960—had blown up before it hit the ground and pieces "fishtailed" down through sheets of rain.

Cloyce Floyd, postmaster of the little town of Dawson, about one mile (1.6 km) from the crash scene, said he was driving along in the rain when he saw an "orange flash."

[2] On June 19, 1969, the NTSB issued its final report, which included the following statement: "Probable Cause: The stressing of the aircraft structure beyond its ultimate strength during an attempted recovery from an unusual attitude induced by turbulence associated with a thunderstorm.