United Air Lines Flight 629

United Airlines Flight 629

A United DC-6 at Stapleton Airport
Occurrence
Date	November 1, 1955
Summary	Bombing
Site	Longmont, Colorado 40°12′0.51″N 104°57′21.96″W
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-6B
Aircraft name	Mainliner Denver
Operator	United Airlines
Registration	N37559
Flight origin	LaGuardia Airport, New York, New York
1st stopover	Chicago Midway International Airport, Chicago, Illinois
2nd stopover	Stapleton International Airport, Denver, Colorado
3rd stopover	Portland International Airport, Portland, Oregon
Destination	Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington
Passengers	39
Crew	5
Fatalities	44 (all)
Survivors	0

United Airlines Flight 629, registration N37559, was a Douglas DC-6B aircraft also known as "Mainliner Denver", which was blown up with a dynamite bomb placed in the checked luggage on November 1, 1955. The explosion occurred over Longmont, Colorado at about 7:03 p.m. local time, while the airplane was en route from Denver, Colorado, to Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. All 39 passengers and five crew members on board were killed in the explosion and crash.

Investigators determined that Jack Gilbert Graham was responsible for bombing the airplane to kill his mother to obtain a large life insurance payout. Within 15 months of the explosion, Graham – who already had an extensive criminal record – was tried, convicted and executed for the crime.

Flight and explosion

The flight had originated at New York City's La Guardia Airport and made a scheduled stop in Chicago before continuing on to Denver's Stapleton Airfield and landed at 6:11 p.m., 11 minutes late. At Denver the aircraft was refueled with 3,400 gallons of fuel, and made a crew change. Captain Lee Hall (a World War II veteran) assumed command of the flight for the segments to Portland then Seattle.

The flight took off at 7:52 p.m. and at 7:56 p.m. made its last transmission stating it was passing the Denver Omni. Seven minutes later, the Stapleton air traffic controllers saw two bright lights suddenly appear in the sky north-northwest of the airport. Both lights were observed for 30–45 seconds, and both fell to the ground at roughly the same speed. The Controllers then saw a very bright flash originating at or near the ground, intense enough to illuminate the base of the clouds above the source of the flash. Upon observing the mysterious lights, the Controllers quickly tried to determine if they were indications of an aircraft in distress and contacted all aircraft flying in the area; all flights were quickly accounted for except for United Flight 629.

Numerous telephone calls soon began coming in from farmers and other residents near the town of Longmont, who reported loud explosions and fiery debris falling from the nighttime sky—the remains of Flight 629. Ground searchers who reached the crash site determined that all 44 people aboard the DC-6B had died instantly. The debris from the accident was scattered across 6 square miles of Weld County, Colorado.

Major portions of the wings and center sections were found in two craters 150 feet apart, however the breakup of the entire aircraft was extensive. The considerable amount of fuel ignited on ground impact, according to fire patterns. The fires were so intense that despite efforts to extinguish them they continued to burn for three days.

There was early speculation that something other than a mechanical problem or pilot error was responsible, since the in-air explosion was so so incredibly intense. The November 2 edition of The New York Times reported a witness to the tragedy describing what he heard: "Conrad Hopp, a farmer who lives near the crash scene, said he and members of his family 'heard a big explosion — it sounded like a big bomb went off and I ran out and I saw a big fire right over the cattle corral. I hollered back to my wife that she'd better call the Fire Department and ambulance because a plane was going to crash. Then I turned around and it blew up in the air.'"

Colorado farm where the empennage of United Air Lines Flight 629 was found.

Investigation

FBI investigators led by J. Edgar Hoover and Special Agent John McCulloch determined that the aircraft began to disintegrate near the empennage, or tail, and that the aft fuselage had been shattered by a force strong enough to cause extreme fragmentation of that part of the aircraft. The explosion had been so intense that investigators thought it unlikely to have been caused by any aircraft system or component. There was also a strong smell of explosives on items from the No. 4 Baggage Compartment.

Suspicions that a bomb had been placed in luggage loaded aboard the aircraft were fueled by the discovery of four pieces of an unusual grade of sheet metal, each covered in a gray soot. Further testing of the No. 4 cargo pit showed that each piece was contaminated with chemicals known to be byproducts of a dynamite explosion. The origin of which was believed to be that of a passenger's luggage.

The wreckage of United Flight 629 was carefully laid out in a Denver warehouse after its bombing.

The FBI, certain that the aircraft had been brought down by a bomb, performed background checks on the passengers. After the initial checks, they focused their efforts on Denver locals citing that they may have personal enemies. A few passengers had purchased life insurance at the airport just before boarding. One such insuree, as well as local, was Daisie Eldora King, 53, a Denver businesswoman who was en route to Alaska to visit her daughter. When agents identified her handbag, they found a number of newspaper clippings containing information about King's son, John Gilbert Graham, who had been arrested on a forgery charge in Denver in 1951. Graham, who held a grudge against his mother as the result of an unhappy childhood, was the beneficiary of both her life insurance policies and her will. Agents also discovered that one of Mrs. King's restaurants, the Crown-A Drive-In in Denver, had been badly damaged in an explosion; Graham had insured the restaurant and then collected on the property insurance following the mysterious blast.

Agents subsequently searched Graham's house and automobile and found wire and other bomb-making parts identical to those found in the wreckage in the garage. They also found an additional $37,500 ($426,500 today) in life insurance policies; however, Mrs. King had not signed either these policies or those purchased at the airport; and they were, therefore, worthless. Graham told Agents that his mother had packed her own suitcase; but his wife, Gloria, revealed that Graham had wrapped a "present" for his mother on the morning of the day of Mrs. King's ill-fated flight.

Faced with the mounting evidence and discrepancies in his story, on November 13, 1955, Graham finally confessed to having placed the bomb in his mother's suitcase, telling the police:

I then wrapped about three or four feet of binding cord around the sack of dynamite to hold the dynamite sticks in place around the caps. The purpose of the two caps was in case one of the caps failed to function and ignite the dynamite ... I placed the suitcase in the trunk of my car with another smaller suitcase...which my mother had packed to take with her on the trip.

Trial

Authorities were shocked to discover that there was no Federal statute on the books at the time (1955) that made it a crime to blow up an airplane. Therefore, on the day after Graham's confession, the Colorado District Attorney moved swiftly to prosecute Graham via the simplest possible route: Premeditated Murder committed against a single victim—his mother, Mrs. King. Thus, despite the number of victims killed on Flight 629 along with Mrs. King, Graham was charged with only one count of first degree murder. It was the first trial in Colorado to be televised, and it was covered by KLZ & KBTV.

A motion by the defense attempted to have Graham's confession thrown out, saying he had not been made aware his rights prior to signing the confession but the motion was denied. At his 1956 trial, his defense was unable to counter the massive amount of evidence and witnesses presented by the prosecution. He was convicted of the murder of his mother and, after a few short delays, was executed in the Colorado State Penitentiary gas chamber on January 11, 1957. Before his execution, he said about the bombing, "as far as feeling remorse for these people, I don't. I can't help it. Everybody pays their way and takes their chances. That's just the way it goes."

Aftermath

As a result of the aircraft explosion, and because at that time there was no law which specifically said you could not bomb an aircraft, a bill was introduced and signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 14th, 1956, which officially made the intentional bombing of a commercial airline illegal.

Graham was reportedly inspired to commit the crime by hearing of a similar incident, the Albert Guay affair in Quebec in 1949. Graham's modus operandi was almost an exact replica of Guay's.

United still uses the flight number 629 today on its Washington (National) – Chicago (O'Hare) route.

The bombing of United Flight 629 is depicted in the opening segment of the 1959 movie The FBI Story, starring James Stewart and Vera Miles. Actor Nick Adams portrays Jack Graham.

Similar incidents

Flight 629 was the second known case of an airliner being destroyed by a bomb over the mainland United States. The first proven case of sabotage in the history of commercial aviation occurred on October 10, 1933 near Chesterton, Indiana, when the empennage (tail) was blasted from a United Air Lines Boeing 247 by a nitroglycerin bomb set off with a timing device. The three crew members and four passengers were killed in the crash. No suspect was ever brought to trial in the case.

Other crashes in the United States caused by bombs include:

• National Airlines Flight 967 over the Gulf of Mexico on November 16, 1959, killing 42.
• National Airlines Flight 2511 over North Carolina on January 6, 1960, killing 34.
• Continental Airlines Flight 11 over Unionville, Missouri on May 22, 1962, killing 45.

List of passengers

Life Magazine published photos of all the passengers in a November 1955 issue.

• Bror H. Beckstrom was traveling with his wife, Irene, and they were returning from a visit with their son who was stationed in Albequerque.
• Irene Beckstrom was traveling with her husband, Bror. She was a originally from Nova Scotia.
• John P. Bomelyn worked for the Seattle Humane Society and was returning home from a business treip in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• Frank M. Brennan, a building contractor, was returning to Seattle from a Denver AGC conference. He was the first of four passengers (Hickok, Purvis and Todd) on the flight that had attended the conference.
• Louise Bunch, a widow, was returning from a church conference. Her husband had been a minister.
• Brad Bynum was traveling with his pregnant wife, Carol. He was geologist for Sinclair Oil.
• Carol Bynum was traveling with her husband Brad. Pregnant, they were returning from a trip to see her parents in Amarillo, Texas.
• Thomas L. Crouch was headed to his new construction job in Washington.
• Carl F. Deist was traveling with his co-worker Straud. Deist worked for Oldsmobile as a regional sales manager. They were headed to a meeting in Portland, Oregon.
• John P. Des Jardin was headed to inspect a department store. He was a department store chain manager.
• Elizabeth Edwards was traveling with her husband and were going on vacation to see her sister.
• Gurney Edwards was an attorney living in Providence, Rhode Island. He and his wife, Elizabeth, were going on vacation.
• Helen Fitzpatrick was moving to Okinawa to live with her husband who was already stationed there. She was traveling with her 14-month old son (John Fitzpatrick II).
• John Fitzpatrick II was the youngest passenger on board. His father had only seen him for a single day of his life because he had to leave the day after his birth. He was traveling with his mother and they were moving to Okinawa.
• Goldie Herman was traveling with her husband, Virgil, and were returning home after a trip to see her sister. Both were flying for the first time.
• Virgil Herman was returning to Vancouver, Washington after being in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife Goldie.
• Elton B. Hickok (sic), a contractor, was returning home from a business trip. He was the second of four passengers (Brennan, Purvis and Todd) on the flight who had attended the AGC conference.
• Marion P. Hobgood was an electrical engineer for Philco. He and passenger Jungels were headed to Portland to supervise a heating system installation.
• Sarah Dorey James was headed to Portland to see her son.
• J. W. Jungels was a heating system engineer. He and passenger Hobgood were headed to Portland to supervise a heating system installation.
• Daisie King was the mother of the bomber and the intended murder victim.
• Gerald G. Lipke, a sales manager, was traveling with his wife Patricia. They were headed to Portland.
• Patricia Lipke was a first time flight passenger. She was traveling with her husband to visit her sister.
• Lela McClain was the oldest passenger at 81. She had been in Glastonbury, Connecticut to visit her step-son.
• James W. Purvis, a contractor, was returning home from a business trip. He was the third of four passengers (Brennan, Hickok and Todd) on the flight who had attended the AGC conference.
• Herbert G. Robertson was an engineer and was headed to Portland to inspect a ship.
• Harold R. Sandstead was Oregon to speak at Oregon State College. He worked for the federal government in public health.
• Jesse Sizemore was in the Air Force and was being stationed at an Air Force Base in Alaska.
• (First name unknown) Stewart, was an engineer traveling with his wife Anne.
• Anne Morgan Stewart was traveling with her husband on their return to Vancouver, Washington. They had been on a business trip together in Chicago.
• James E. Straud was traveling with his co-worker Deist. Straud was an assistant manager for Oldsmobile. They were headed to a meeting in Portland, Oregon.
• Clarence Todd, a contractor, was returning home from a business trip. He was the fourth of four passengers (Brennan, Hickok and Purvis) on the flight who had attended the AGC conference.
• Minnie Van Valin was a genealogist and though they were visiting her husband's hometown, she took a genealogy research side trip to Washington D.C. She was married to Dr. Van Valin.
• Dr. Ralph W. Van Valin was a retired dentist traveling with his wife, Minnie. They were visiting his hometown.
• Alma Winsor was a housewife traveling to help her daughter in Tacoma, Washington whose husband had polio.

There were a number of United employees flying as passengers on board as well.

• F. E. Ambrose, sales agent, was returning to Seattle after having checked on a job, still with United, in Denver.
• Barbara J. Cruse, a stewardess, was headed home to Seattle on vacation. Both she and Miss Scofield had planned to meet in Seattle.
• Sally Ann Scofield, a stewardess, was also headed home to Seattle on vacation. She was engaged to a pilot. Amazingly she had met and befriended the bombers wife, Gloria, at a church function.

List of crew members

Life also published photos of the crew.

• Captain Lee H. Hall (pilot), lived in Seattle and had worked for United for 13 years.
• Donald A. White (co-pilot), lived in Seattle and though he only worked for United for 4 years, he had a total of 10 years of flying experience.
• Samuel F. Arthur (flight engineer), lived in Seattle and was with United for 9 years.
• Jacqueline Hinds (senior stewardess), had worked for United for for 4 1/2 years.
• Peggy Ann Peddicord (second-stewardess) had only been with United for 10 months.

See also

• Air safety

Further reading

• Field, Andrew J. (2005). Mainliner Denver: The Bombing of Flight 629 (Google books limited preview). Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books. ISBN 1-55566-363-X.
• Gero, David (1997). Flights of Terror: Aerial Hijack and Sabotage Since 1930. Haynes Publishing. ISBN 1-85260-512-X.