United Airlines Trip 4 Crashes, Killing 12

United Airlines Trip 4, a Boeing 247D, was a scheduled flight departing from Salt Lake City, Utah to Cheyenne, Wyoming on October 7, 1935.

The aircraft last contacted Cheyenne at 2:16 or 2:17 a.m. reporting its position as Silver Crown. Cheyenne called the flight at 2:17, receiving no reply. The weather was virtually clear with ceiling unlimited. The wreckage was located 3 miles East of Sliver Crown. The aircraft struck the ground in a shallow descent just below a small knoll. Marks on the ground made by the propllers, fuselage and engine showed the aircraft was in a normal flight attitude. Propeller marks, engine damage established the entines were developing normal power and the aircraft was at cruising speed. An untouched knoll 60 feet further back on the flight path and three feet higher established that the aircraft was descending. The pilot was believed to be flying on instruments. The Probable Cause was determined to be pilot error in failing to monitor altitude or location.

While flying in a normal, slightly descending path, the aircraft first collided with the ground just a few feet below the top of a small knoll tearing out both engines and engine nacelles. It then rebounded and continued through the air for a distance of 1,120 feet, where it came to rest. Error on the part of the pilot in executing an abrupt maneuver with insufficient altitude for safety and failure of the pilot to maintain proper control of the aircraft during this maneuver.