1934 United Air Lines Boeing 247 crash

The 1934 United Air Lines Boeing 247 crash was an accident involving a Boeing Air Transport-operated United Air Lines scheduled flight of a Boeing 247, which crashed in bad weather shortly after departing Salt Lake City, Utah, on February 23, 1934, killing all eight on board. The cause was not immediately determined, but poor weather was considered a factor.

Accident site

The search party found the wreckage with the "nose buried deep in the earth and its broken tail standing upwards. Every part of it, except the wings, which were cracked, was smashed. In the front of the interior, the mangled bodies were heaped, that of Miss Carter on the top, indicating, it was believed, that she was in the rear of the cabin when the liner hurtled into the mountain."

It had crossed the summit of the pass and had proceeded about three-quarters of a mile on the other side when it dived. "The plane had apparently flown straight into the ground at high speed. The nose was thrust into the earth, the rear end was sticking into the air and the tail was broken off. Each wing and the body rested on three nearby pine trees."

The body of the stewardess was intact. Those of the two pilots and five passengers were mangled such that identification was possible only through jewelry and clothing.

Judge John C. Green, coroner of Summit County, Utah, took charge of the bodies as they were removed from the wreckage. They were carried over 2 mi of snowy trail, through heavy brush and rough country, to a roadhouse on the highway at the summit of Parley's Canyon, and then to Salt Lake City in an ambulance.