on march 31, 1931, the airline suffered after the 1931 transcontinental & western air fokker f-10 crash near matfield green, kansas. the crash killed all eight on board, including university of notre dame football coach knute rockne. the cause of the crash was linked to the wooden wings, one of which failed in flight. as a consequence, all of the airline's fokker f.10s were grounded and later scrapped. twa needed a replacement aircraft, but the first sixty modern all-metal boeing 247s were promised to boeing's sister company united airlines (both were subsidiaries of united aircraft and transport corporation). twa was forced to sponsor the development of a new airplane design. specifications included the ability to fly the high altitude route between winslow, arizona and albuquerque, new mexico with one engine inoperative. other specifications included the capacity to carry 12 passengers and a range of 1,080 miles.