United Airlines Flight 629

**United Airlines Flight 629** was a U.S. domestic flight from New York City to Seattle, Washington that crashed due to a bombing shortly after takeoff due to refueling in Weld County, Colorado, United States of America.

## Bombing

On November 1, 1955, Flight 629 had departed from LaGuardia Airport in New York City and made a stop-over at the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago before landing at the Stapleton Airfield in Denver, Colorado in order to replace the crew and refuel for a stop-over in Portland and its eventual destination in Seattle at 6:11 PM. Sometime between 6:52 and 6:56 PM, Flight 629 departed from the Stapleton Airfield and seven minutes later, air traffic controllers noticed 2 bright lights in the sky north-northwest of the airfield. After not receiving a distress call, the control crew sent messages to all flights in the area in order to account for all flights and Flight 629 did not respond.

Shortly afterwards, calls came in from residents of Longmont, Colorado claiming that they heard an explosion and had seen fiery debris. This would end up being the remains of Flight 629, with the debris being scattered along a berry field in Weld County. One witness, a farmer named Conrad Hopp, claimed that "it sounded like a big bomb went off". The resulting fire was so intense that it burned until November 4.

## Investigation

It was immediately determined that all 44 people onboard had been killed in the explosion. Initially, the Civil Aeronautics Board believed the crash was due to a mechanical issue or pilot error and had dismissed any sense of foul play.

As the investigation continued, the CAB noted that the plane began to disintegrate near the tail and that the fuselage had shattered to the point of extreme fragmention of that area. The CAB concluded that there was no possibility of it being a mechanical issue as no part could've caused such a forceful explosion and suspected foul play after noting a smell of explosives in one of the baggage compartments. Investigators would later find 4 sheets of an unusual grade of sheet metal covered in gray soot and upon further testing, it was revealed that the soot was a byproduct of a dynamite explosion. The CAB also talked with United Airlines during early stages and learned that the airline had been in a union dispute and suspected someone on the plane crew had planted the dynamite within luggage in order to destroy the airline's reputation.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations began running background checks on all passengers and crew. It was through these checks and further investigations that the epicenter was focused on one of the passengers, 53-year-old Daisie Eldora King, who was planning on visiting her daughter in Alaska. King was one of 3 passengers that had purchased life insurance at the Stapleton Airfield, worth $37,500 ($379,300 when adjusted for inflation). Suspicion fell on her son, 22-year-old John Gilbert Graham, as he had a forgery arrest dating back to 1951, was the beneficiary of both the policy and her will, and one of his drive-in restaurants had been badly damaged in an explosion with Graham receiving a property insurance payout.

Graham would confess to placing the dynamite in his mother's briefcase on November 13, 1955 due to mounting evidence (including finding bomb-making materials in his garage), claiming that he'd wrapped dynamite sticks around sheet metal in order to get revenge for Daisie placing him in an orphanage as a child. Graham was only charged with 1 count of first-degree murder as there was no statute for blowing up a commercial aircraft at the time. Graham would be executed at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Cañon City after being found guilty on January 11, 1957. The President of the United States of America, Dwight D. Eisenhower, would sign a bill on July 14, 1956 making it a felony to purposefully bomb a commercial airline.

## Victims

* James I. Fitzpatick II, 13 months, was with his mother enroute to Okinawa, Japan to meet his father
* Sally Ann Scofield, 21, flight attendant intending on vacationing in Seattle with Barbara Jean Cruse
* Barbara Jean Cruse, 23, flight attendant
* Thomas L. Crouch, 23, carpenter's apprentice heading to Seattle for a new job
* Jacqueline Louise Hinds, 26, flight attendant
* Donald A. White, 26, co-pilot
* United States Air Force A2C Jesse T. Sizemore, 31, enroute to Alaska for duty at an Air Force base
* Marion Pierce Hobgood, 32, electrical engineer returning home to Portland from business trip
* Frank Mark Brennan Jr., 36, contracting officer returning home to Portland from conference in Denver
* Helen Patricia Lipke, 36, was intending to vacation with husband in Portland
* Fay Ellis Ambrose, 38, airline reservations agent returning home to Seattle from checking a new job offer from United in Denver
* Samuel Francis Arthur, 38, flight engineer
* Suzanne Faulds Morgan, 39, was on business trip with husband from Chicago to Vancouver, Canada
* Elton Bernard Hickok, 40, manager of Associated General Contractors Seattle returning home from conference in Denver
* Gerald George Lipke, 40, division sales manager intending to vacation with wife in Portland
* James William Purvis, 40, contractor returning home from conference in Denver
* United Airlines Capt. Lee Hardee Hall, 40, pilot
* Helen K. Fitzpatrick, 42, enroute to Okinawa, Japan with her infant son to introduce him to husband
* John Paul Des Jardins, 43, retail store manager on inspection trip
* Herbert G. Robertson, 43, marine engineer heading to Portland for a ship repair project
* Clarence William Todd, 43, manager of Associated General Contractors Tacoma returning home from conference in Denver
* Irene Josephine Beckstrom, 45, returning home with her husband after visiting son in Albuquerque
* Bror Howard Beckstrom, 47, electronic engineering firm owner returning home with wife after visiting son in Albuquerque
* Alma Louise Winsor, 47, enroute to Tacoma, WA to visit daughter and son-in-law
* Dr. Harold Russell Sandstead, 51, nutrition expert enroute to Oregon State College to give a speech
* Frederick Stewart Morgan, 51, consulting engineer on business trip with his wife from Chicago to Vancouver, Canada
* James Earl Straud, 51, Oldsmobile assistant sales manager enroute to meeting in Portland
* John Peter Bomelyn, 53, humane society superintendent returning home from a national conference in Grand Rapids
* Carl Frederick Deist, 53, Oldsmobile sales manager enroute to meeting in Portland
* Daisie Eldora King, 53, businesswoman enroute to Alaska to visit daughter
* Sarah L. Dorey, 55, enroute to Portland with husband to visit son
* Clara Elizabeth Edwards, 57, enroute to Seattle with her husband to visit daughter
* John William Jungels, 57, heating engineer enroute to Portland for inspection
* James Francis Dorey, 58, enroute to Portland with wife to visit son
* Charles Gurney Edwards, 58, attorney enroute to Seattle with wife to visit son
* Goldie M. Herman, 59, returning home after vacationing with husband in St. Louis
* Clarissa Louise Bunch, 62, returning home from convention in Colorado
* Minnie O. VanValin, 64, genealogy expert returning home with husband after checking records in Washington, DC
* Vernal Virgil Herman, 69, used oil reclamation business owner returning home from vacation with wife in St. Louis
* Dr. Ralph Waldo VanValin, 72, retired dentist returning home with wife after vacation in Washington, DC
* Lela Vay McClain, 80, returning home after visiting stepson in Connecticut