Longmont, Colorado, USA
1955 - UAL AIRLINER CRASH NEAR PLATTEVILLE KILLS 44 TURNING GREELEY ARMORY INTO CROWED MORGUE.

DC6B Exploded While in Air, Some Report.
By Gordon G. Gauss
LONGMONT, Colo. (AP) - A four-engine United Air Lines plane - some witnesses said it seemed to explode in the air - crashed in a northern Colorado sugar beet field Tuesday night, killing all 44 persons aboard.

The disaster hitting the New York-to-Seattle DC6B craft was the second major crash the air line has suffered in the Rocky Mountain region in less than four weeks.

A UAL airliner smashed into Medicine Bow Peak in southern Wyoming Oct. 6 for a loss of 66 lives, the nation's worst commercial aviation tragedy.

Tuesday night's crash killed 39 passengers, including an infant boy, and 5 crew members.

An airline official declined too speculate on what happened to the plane, explaining that the accounts of witnesses varied widely.

"Some say it exploded in the air, others that it hit the ground and exploded," the spokesman said. "It is difficult for us to say what took place. That probably will have to be determined by the Civil Aeronautics Board."

Resembled Shooting Star
A farm boy, BUD LANG, 20, told a reporter the plane passed directly over where he stood in his farmyard and it "looked like a shooting star coming down."

The air line reported that by 8 a. m. all of the bodies had been taken to undertaking parlors at Greeley, 17 miles northeast of the crash.
Although there was snow at higher elevations, the ground where the plane smashed in pieces into the earth was clear. The temperature was below freezing.

Flight Engineers on Strike
A strike of flight engineers was called against the air line Oct. 23. One of the five crew victims was a pilot who was making the flight as an engineer, a post he formerly held. UAL said he was "fully qualified with many years experience."

A spokesman for the company said at New York there was no connection between the strike and the crash -- "by all means, no!"

Two witnesses told of hearing an explosion before the craft struck in a field and another after it hit in near-freezing weather.

JAKE HEIL said he and his family "thought it was going to hit the house" on their farm. He fixed the time at 7:03 p.m. MST.

Platteville Marshal Saw Flares
JOHN McNEILL, night marshal at Platteville, Colo., six miles distant, reported he saw two flares in the air, "a sort of an explosion -- then a big bright light."

Chief GILBERT R. CARREL of the Colorado Highway Patrol and other investigators said the accounts of an explosion were being checked. None would venture a possible explanation.

Unlike the UAL crash on Medicine Bow Peak near Laramie, Wyo., this accident happened over comparatively level country a few miles east of the Colorado Rockies.

Wreckage Strewn for Mile
Wreckage and bodies were strewn for a mile over a plowed field and a pasture six miles east of Longmont. The scene was about 32 miles north of Denver's city limits and about 30 miles east of scenic Rocky Mountain National Park.

The plane left Denver about 10 minutes earlier and was 20 minutes behind schedule, United Air Lines reported. A company official said it was on course toward Cheyenne, Wyo. He said the DC-6B had a cruising speed of about 300 miles an hour and was capable of carrying up to 64 passengers.

Two Stewardesses on Vacation
Thirty-nine of the victims were passengers, including an infant and two UAL stewardesses on vacation. The crew consisted of Capt. L. H. HALL, pilot; First Officer D. A. WHITE, co-pilot; S. F. ARTHUR, pilot-engineer; and PEGGY PEDDICORD and JACQUELINE HINDS, stewardesses, all of Seattle.

The flight No. 629, originated in New York at noon and made a stop at Chicago before it landed in Denver. It was due to stop in Portland before completing the trip to Seattle.

Plane in Two Sections
The plane broke up and two sections tore holes four feet deep in the earth and burned. The nose - several hundred feet north - didn't catch fire but was badly smashed.

A pilot's cap lay overturned near the wreckage. A woman's forearm dangled limply out of a pile of debris. A man's leg lay grotesquely under some bent metal. Scattered bodies were covered with tarpaulins by rescuers.

Priest Gives Last Rites
A young Roman Catholic priest moved through the area administering the last sacrament, guided only by a flashlight.

HEIL said he and his family heard "sort of an explosion" and added;
"Then we ran outside and it looked to us like a skyrocket. It sounded like the motor was still running after the first explosion. Minutes after the plane hit there was another explosion."

He told his story to JIM MATLACK, co-publisher of the Longmont Times-Call and one of the first outsiders to reach the scene.

"There was nothing we could do but cover up the bodies," MATLACK said. "There wasn't a sign of life."

He and HEIL reported that as far as they could determine, no bodies were burned.

Farm Boy Saw Red Flame
A 12-year-old farm boy, CHARLES DALPRA, was at his home some five miles away and suddenly saw a "red flame" in the sky. He told a reporter "it kept getting bigger" then he heard a noise. He told his father, GILBERT DALPRA, who added he first thought the youngster "was imagining things."

Colorado highway patrolmen, sheriff's officers, local police, civil defense workers and volunteer firemen rushed to the scene from over the agricultural community. Ambulances came in from several towns.
Coroner H. ROSS ADAMSON, of Greeley was an early arrival at the scene but declined to hazard an immediate opinion of the wreck's cause.
Initial efforts to determine the cause of the wreck were launched under lights of portable electric plants as tumbleweeds blew across the scene.

Air Disaster Inquiry Crew Being Chosen
All bodies were removed from the scene of the crash around 7:30 Wednesday morning. Then the long wait for the investigating crews began. The Civil Aeronautics authorities held a meeting in Denver early Wednesday morning to pick investigation crews.

Earlier Wednesday morning a huge crane shook apart what was left of the front of the body of the plane to remove what mail and luggage it could. Other than that all parts remain as they were when they hit. All main sections of the plane are roped off to prevent people from getting in an disturbing anything.

The National Guard, Civil Air Patrol, numerous United Airlines workers and the State Patrol all were stationed in the area to prevent any part from being disturbed. No one is allowed on the section where most of the pieces of the plane lay. Only photographers and reporters were allowed near the scene.

United set up a restricted headquarters for the guards to relax. There is a bus for the men to get in out of the cold. A snack bar has been set up outside by a small fire to serve the men sandwiches and coffee while they get warm.

A slight wind was blowing off the snow-covered Rockies and the temperature was low enough to freeze coffee spilled on the snack table.

To make the guards' jobs easier, people are asked to stay away from the scene.

The only part of the plane that remained intact was the tail assembly, which was found over a mile south of the rest of the rubble. Other parts are strewn from the landing place of the tail to the resting place of the front of the body, which was the part that was demolished by the crane.

Looking over the fields, one can see tires and parts of the framework. The power units of the plane landed some 20 feet apart and dug 10 to 15 feet deep holes. They were still flaming late Wednesday morning.

44 Killed in Crashed Airliner Are Listed

CHICAGO (AP) - The 38 adult passengers, one infant and five crew members killed in the United Air Lines DC6B which crashed near Longmont, Colo., Tuesday night were identified by the company and relatives as follows:

F. E. AMBROSE, UAL senior reservations agent at Seattle.
MR. AND MRS. B. BECKSTROM, Seattle.
JOHN P. BROMELYN, Seattle.
FRANK M. BRANNAN, Seattle.
MRS. J. W. BUNCH, Forest Grove, Ore.
MR. AND MRS. HORACE B. BYNUM, Sherwood, Ore.
BARBARA J. CRUSE, Denver, UAL stewardess on vacation.
CARL F. DEISL, Hillsborough, Calif.
JOHN DES JARDINS, Kansas City, Mo.
MR. AND MRS. JAMES DOREY, Whitman, Mass.
MR. AND MRS. GURNEY EDWARDS, Providence, R. I.
MRS. JAMES FITZPATRICK and infant son, JAMES H., Batavia, N. Y.
MR. AND MRS. V. V. HERMAN, Rt. 7, Vancouver, Wash.
ELSON B. HICKOCK, Seattle.
N. P. HOBGOOD, Hatfield, Pa.
K. J. W. JUNGELS, Aurora, Ill.
MRS. DASIE E. KING, Denver.
P. F. KROUCH (no home city available).
MR. AND MRS. G. G. LIPKE, Pittsburgh.
MRS. LEWIS L. MACCLAIN, Portland, Ore.
MR. AND MRS. FREDERICK STUART MORGAN, Wilmette, Ill.
HERBERT G. ROBERTSON, Rutherford, N. J.
JAMES W. PURVIS, Tacoma, Wash.
DR. HAROLD R. SANDSTEAD, Silver Spring, Md.
SALLY ANN SCOFIELD, Denver, UAL stewardess on vacation.
JAMES F. STRAUD, Lansing and Okemos, Mich.
DR. AND MRS. R. W. VAN VALIN, Newberg, Ore.
CLARENCE TODD, Tacoma, Wash.
MRS. ALMA WINSOR, St. John's, N. F.
One military personnel (name withheld pending notification of kin).
The crew members, all of Seattle:
Capt. L. H. HALL, pilot.
First Officer D. A. WHITE, co-pilot.
S. F. ARTHUR, pilot-engineer.
PEGGY PEDDICORD, stewardess.
JACQUELINE HINDS, stewardess.

The Greeley Daily Tribune
Greeley, Colorado
November 2, 1955

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