What happened
The aircraft departed Orlando Army Air Field on a mission bound for Salina, Kansas, with a scheduled intermediate stop at Galveston, Texas. While maintaining cruising altitude, the airplane experienced a sudden and catastrophic structural failure involving the tail assembly. The entire tail section detached from the fuselage, rendering the aircraft uncontrollable.
The uncontrolled airframe subsequently dove into the terrain near Lebanon, located approximately 24 kilometers southwest of Madill, Oklahoma. The impact resulted in the total destruction of the aircraft. All 10 crew members on board were killed in the accident. Post-accident surveys located the detached tail section roughly 400 yards away from the main wreckage site.
Findings
Official investigations confirmed that the entire tail structure, including the horizontal stabilizers, elevators, vertical fin, and rudders, separated from the airframe during flight. Despite extensive analysis, investigators were unable to definitively determine the root cause of this in-flight separation. However, abnormal vibrations were identified as a potential contributing factor to the structural failure.