Billings

On final approach to Billings-Logan Airport, one of the engine failed. Control was lost and the airplane crashed in flames onto a house. The aircraft was destroyed and all four occupants were killed.

Frontier Airlines Flight 32 of March 12, 1964, crashed and burned during an instrument approach to the Miles City Airport, Miles City, Montana, about 2050 m.s.t. All five occupants, three crew members and two passengers were killed, and the aircraft was destroyed. Weather conditions last reported to the flight were the operational minima of ceiling 400 feet and visibility one mile. Wet snow, strong gusty winds, and near freezing temperatures prevailed. Investigation revealed neither malfunctioning of any of the aircraft's components nor of any of the pertinent airport navigational facilities including the VOR, which was utilized. All applicable FAA certification was in order.

While cruising at an altitude of 9,000 feet on a flight from Edmonton to Denver, the crew encountered technical problems with the left engine. A propeller blade detached and hit the fuselage. Shortly later, the engine suffered severe vibrations and later detached from its mount. In such conditions, the crew decided to reduce his altitude and attempted an emergency landing. The aircraft crash landed in a field located 12 miles east of Billings, hit a ditch and came to rest in flames. Eight occupants were killed while eight others were injured.

While cruising by night and in foggy conditions, the aircraft hit the slope of the Mt Moran (12,605 feet high) located in the northwest part of Wyoming, south of the Yellowstone National Park. The aircraft departed Chico, California, at 1515LT, to Billings, Montana, carrying eight children, ten adults and a crew of three. The aircraft hit the mountain at approximately 1750LT. As the aircraft failed to arrive in Billings, SAR operations were conducted. The following day, farmers told the local authorities that fire was spotted in the mountain and that it was not possible to find anything burning at this period of the year except maybe the crashed aircraft. As the accident zone was unreachable, it took time to rescuers to find the wreckage. All 21 occupants have been killed.

The crew was performing a flight from Fargo to Billings with 21 veterans on board. In flight, the weather conditions at destination worsened and visibility dropped from 10 miles to half a mile due to heavy snow storm. On final approach to Billings Airport, the aircraft was too low, hit a tree and crashed in flames in a snow covered field, 400 meters short of runway threshold. Both pilots and 17 passengers were killed, four others were seriously injured. Those killed were:
Crew:
Cpt George D. Miller, pilot,
Cpt Vernon Pfannkuch, pilot.
Maj Ray Craft,
S/Sgt Thomas Thomsen,
T/Sgt Glenn Marr,
Sgt Don Haley,
Tec Virgil Kinne,
Tec Warren Parrish,
Lt Anthony Alnsky,
Pfc Clayton Thompson,
Tec Fred Chapman,
Pfc Maceo Hobbs,
Pfc Walter Orchard,
Tec John Marshall,
Sgt Charles Ennen,
Cpl Lorrell Cassell,
Tec Ned Neasham,
Pfc David Gillett,
Tec Adolph Tokie.
Those who survived were:
Tec Emil A. Hasch,
Pfc Raymond Parkins,
Cpl Milford Barnes,
Tec Raymond Emerson.

While cruising at an altitude of 9,000 feet in good weather conditions, the twin engine aircraft went out of control, entered a dive and crashed on a wooded hill located some 22 km northeast of Bozeman. All 10 occupants were killed.
Crew:
Nick B. Mamer, pilot,
Frederick W. West, Jr., copilot.
Passengers:
T. Anderson,
I. E. Stevenson,
G. A. Anderson,
L. Levin,
Walter Ton,
A. Croonquist,
Douglas McKay,
W. E. Borgenheimer.