Continental Airlines Flight 11

On May 22, 1962, Continental Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 707-124 (registration N70775), departed O'Hare Airport in Chicago at 8:35 p.m. bound for Kansas City, Missouri. The aircraft was carrying a crew of Captain Fred R. Gray, First Officer Edward J. Sullivan, Flight Engineer Roger D. "Jack" Allen, a purser, and four stewardesses, along with passengers, for a total of 45 people on board.

The flight proceeded normally until it deviated north of its filed route near the Mississippi River to avoid thunderstorms. Near Centerville, Iowa, the aircraft disappeared from the radar scope of the Waverly, Iowa, Flight Following Service. At approximately 9:17 p.m., an explosion occurred in the right rear lavatory, separating the tail section from the fuselage. The flight crew attempted emergency descent procedures and donned smoke masks amid dense fog that filled the cabin after decompression. The remaining structure pitched violently nose-down, tearing off the engines before the aircraft fell in uncontrolled gyrations. The fuselage, missing its aft 38 feet and part of its wings, struck the ground in an alfalfa field near Unionville, in Putnam County, Missouri. Witnesses in the area reported hearing loud noises and seeing a large flash or fireball around 9:20 p.m. A B-47 Stratojet bomber crew flying near Kirksville, Missouri, also reported observing a bright flash in the sky at approximately the same time. Wreckage, including engines and parts of the tail and left wing, was scattered up to six miles from the main crash site.

Of the 45 people aboard, 44 died at the scene. One 27-year-old passenger survived the initial impact but died of internal injuries roughly ninety minutes later at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital in Centerville, Iowa.

The subsequent investigation, involving the FBI, determined that a passenger, Thomas G. Doty, had purchased a $150,000 life insurance policy from Mutual of Omaha—the maximum available—shortly before the flight, along with additional insurance purchased at the airport, bringing the total potential payout to $300,000. Doty, a married man with a five-year-old daughter, was scheduled to appear in court on an armed robbery charge. Investigators found he had purchased six sticks of dynamite before the flight, carried them into the lavatory in a briefcase, and ignited them. His stated motive, according to the investigation, was for his wife and daughter to collect on the life insurance. His widow later attempted to collect on the policy, but it was voided after Doty's death was ruled a suicide.

In July 2010, a memorial was erected near the crash site in Unionville, Missouri, and in May 2012 a special 50th-anniversary memorial service was held in the town.