Incident Overview
On the night of May 22, 1962, a Continental Air Lines Boeing 707-124, registration N70775, operated as Flight 11. The flight was en route from O'Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois, to Kansas City, Missouri, flying via Jet Route 26V at an altitude of 39,000 feet.
Sequence of Events
A few minutes after Flight 11 made a northerly deviation from course to circumnavigate a thunderstorm in the vicinity of Centerville, Iowa, the radar image of the aircraft disappeared from the scope of the Waverly, Iowa, Flight Following Service. At approximately 2117, an explosion occurred in the right rear lavatory, resulting in the separation of the tail section from the fuselage. The aircraft broke up, and the main part of the fuselage struck the ground about 6 miles north-northwest of Unionville, Missouri. All 37 passengers and 8 crew members sustained fatal injuries. The aircraft was totally destroyed.
Investigation Findings
The Board determined that the probable cause of this accident was the disintegrating force of a dynamite explosion which occurred in the right rear lavatory, resulting in destruction of the aircraft.