Died in Albany County, Wyoming in plane crash of United Airlines flight 409
Flight 409 left New York, New York one hour and 11 minutes late.
Routine crew changes were made in Chicago and Denver.
Flight 409 departed Denver, Colorado at 6:33 a.m. on 6 October 1955, 83 minutes after its
scheduled departure time.
The assigned path the airliner was expected to fly was along airways V-4 Denver to Laramie, Wyoming V-118 to Rock River, Wyoming radio, V-6 to Fort Bridger, Wyoming,
and V-32 to a landing in Salt Lake City.
The flight was operating under Visual Flight Rules and was assigned a cruising altitude of 10,000 feet.
The aircraft was not pressurized, the altitude was chosen to keep the passengers and crew
from experiencing the discomfort that flying higher could cause.
The route assigned to the airliner was specifically designed to allow safe passage at 10,000 feet over the continental divide in the Rocky Mountains.
An expected position report from the United crew, schededuled for 8:11 a.m. while over
Rock Springs, was not received, and repeated attempts to make radio contact with flight 409
were met with no response.
With the airliner's status unknown, the Civil Aeronautics Authority was alerted to the missing
aircraft.
No radar was in place for civil aviation in this region in 1955.
With no radar traces, manual searches were required to find the aircraft.