DAN GOUGH PILOT DEN BIL Daniel H. Gough was 25 years old when he died in the crash of Frontier Airlines flight 32. He had 3539 flying hours of which 1355 had been as first officer in DC3s. He left a pregnant wife and a two year old daughter. The full story of this tragic accident is retold in THE GOLDEN YEARS OF FLYING by Tex Searle, a retired Frontier Airlines captain. Contact TexSearle@compuserve.com for information on obtaining the book. -Jake Lamkins (1/21/00) There were three fatal aircraft accidents in the history of Frontier. Only one (Miles City, March 1964) involved passengers with the loss of two of which one OR BOTH were non-revenue. The BOTH being controversial between investigators and the official record). The captain was Kenny Huber, the f/o was Dan Gough in N-51422. The second crash was 12-21-67 in DEN. The captain of N-65276 was Rocky Crane, the f/o was Rick Cochran. Rick was the twin brother of Captain Dick Cochran who retired as a senior MD-80 captain. Dick lives in DEN. They were the son's of a pioneer pilot who was involved with Lowry AFB in its early years. He was also a pioneer aerial photographer. I have several of his photos showing a lot of early Curtiss fighters, and various other aircraft like the Sikorski S-38, Fokker F-3, Stout predecessor of the Ford Tri-Motor and even a dirgible. Losing Rick was tough on that family! The third accident was the DHC-6-300 (N-982FL in PUB). -Billy Walker (1/23/99) See the report on the first accident at http://members.tripod.com/~LAMKINS/FL_DC3_CrashReport -Jake Lamkins (4/22/99) There was some confusion about the spelling of the last name. Ace Avakian's "Gone West" list from the Retired FL Pilots Assn showed it as "Dan Goff". I asked Ace to check, thus the following message. -Jake Lamkins (6/2/99) Okay Jake - I thought I told you that the spelling of Dan Gough is correct and mine on the list was incorrect. Anyway, Gough is correct and I'm still attempting to confirm or deny the Bob Lukow situation and will keep you advised. Best Wishes, -Ace Avakian (6/2/99) Dear Mr. Lamkins, I am Dan Gough's son (Frontier pilot- Crash of FL32, a DC3 at MLS on March 12, 1964). I have wanted to get the report of my dad's crash for years. Can you tell me how I can obtain the rest of the pages of the report at http://members.tripod.com/~LAMKINS/FL_DC3_CrashReport? I would sincerely appreciate your help. Respectfully, =Daniel Gough Denig (1/18/00) Tex Searle, one of our veteran Frontier pilots, has written a book about THE GOLDEN YEARS OF FLYING recounting his career. There is a chapter in it on Flight 32. It details exactly what happened that terrible night. Tex also has a full copy of the NTSB report - about 22 pages long. He'll be glad to get both to you. All he needs is your address. He's at TexSearle@compuserve.com -Jake Lamkins (1/20/00) Wow! I am very excited, Jake. I will send him my address right away! I can't thank you enough. Yes, that was a terrible night. My mother was left with one little girl, my sister, (who also died two years later) and pregnant with me. I was born in November that year therefore I never had a chance to meet my dad. Later, my mother remarried therefore I then obtained the last name Denig. I will sign up for the Frontier Club over the weekend. I hope to be able to find someone that might remember my dad. "Talk" to you later, Jake. Thanks again so much!!! P.S. Flying wasn't all lost in the Gough family that night though for I am a pilot too! Daniel Gough Denig (1/21/00) HI Jake, I can remember that accident vividly but I have no information on any accident report available. I do not think that I saw Billy Walker's name on the ones you sent this to. He is probably the one most liable to have any information on that. Billy is quite a Frontier Historian. In case you do not have his address it is: billywalker@home.com I do hope that someone can help with this. Warm Regards from -EP Lietz (1/22/00) Tex Searle came thru with flying colors. He reminded me of the chapter in his book that details the accident and he also has a 22 page NTSB report. Both items are on their way to Dan's son. Dan Gough's wife was pregnant at the time of the accident. The son from that pregnancy is the one who contacted me. He was born 8 months after the crash. He had an older sister who died 2 years after Dan did. So, Dan's widow had a tragic time in the 60s. Since you knew Dan, do you have any personal comments I could add to his obit page - same for Capt. Huber & FA Dorothy Reif. Thanks, -Jake Lamkins (1/22/00) Hi Jake, That accident happened a very long time ago. My memory is pretty weak in that particular incident. I do remember that apparently up to the time the aircraft flew over the VOR range inbound to the runway everything appeared normal. There was a technician working on the equipment in the VOR and he saw the airplane fly over. Something happened between the VOR and the end of the runway. All I ever heard was they suspected ice but the aircraft burned and of course any ice accumulation would have melted. I flew the DC-3 for Frontier for 17 years and I know from experience that it would carry a very large load of ice and still fly. The Captain on that flight was a pretty good pilot. I have never read the NTSB report and so I am very unfamiliar with anything that happened or any conclusions that they may have come up with. I do know that the route from Billings through Miles City and beyond could have some very bad weather and icing conditions. I understand that the weather that day was pretty bad. I imagine that Dan's wife did have a bad time. We had no sort of retirement plan at the time or any sort of benefits paid to widows of pilots. I imagine that besides the trauma of losing her husband she was face with a pretty bleak economic situation. Life can become very ugly at times. Those of us, including all of the ground personnel, that survived those days can consider ourselves lucky. As a copilot on Challenger I made the princely sum of $200 a month. I can imagine what would have happened to my wife if I had been killed at that perticular period of time. I suspect that many other employees made a lot less than that. Sometimes make you wonder why we stayed with the airline. It did get better later but to begin with it was pretty grim. Not a lot more for now. Hope you and yours are well and happy. Warm Regards from -EP Lietz (1/22/00) Hey Jake, Here they are. Let me know what you think. If you need me to work on the pictures more or have any problems, please do not hesitate to tell me. I figured out the jpg format. Jake, that night of my dad's crash, dad had in his wallet Frontier Captain Charles S. Callahan's business card. Is he around??? Your friend, -Daniel Gough Denig (3/19/00) (Daniel sent 3 photos of his Dad for his Obituary webpage - Jake) (Efforts to locate Callahan were fruitless) -Jake Lamkins (6/20/00) Posted at FL Club 2/7/02 I got a note from longtime BIL agent Gene Martin. He was at MLS when FL 32 crashed. "An event I will never forget is the crash of DC3 flight 32 at Miles City, MT. on March 12, 1964. I was Station Manager and working that evening. My agent Gayle Bussinger was on board flight 32 returning from Billings. The time of the crash was at 8:50PM or very close to that and the site was about I 1/2 miles from the runway. The area consisted of rolling hills and ground transportation was difficult therefore the crash site was not found until around midnight. My last contact with Flight 32 was at 8:47PM after giving him a local traffic check and since the wind was blowing 20 gust to 30 knots I asked him if he wanted the rudder lock on the runway and replied "Yes", which was acknowledge at 8:47PM. I then got prepared to take the rudder lock out to meet the fight. A light snow shower was passing through the area at this time. After waiting for about 5 minutes I got out of my car and went back into the station to determine where he was because he should have been on the ground by now. I could not get an answer from him on the radio and the Flight Service Station was not getting a response either. I then initiated an "overdue flight" emergency procedure. I was kept on the phone until the aircraft was located which was around midnight. After the wreckage was spotted I notified the local sheriffs to secure the area until the investigators arrive. A DC3 with company officials, FAA and CAB investigators arrived Miles City around 3:30AM. Elton Snoke and Carl Foster arrived on this flight. After my first flight out that morning they advised me to go home and get some rest. I did but after several phone calls I decide to go back to the airport. Moe Osborne was relief agent in our area so he was brought in to help. Red Barringer, on station leave at this time, accepted to return to work. Getting an experienced agent was very much appreciated. The tail section bearing the number N61442 was the only recognizable piece of the aircraft at its final resting place. The right wing was on a hill side about ¼ mile west. Probable cause, per the CAB was "The descent below obstructing terrain, for reasons undeterminable, during an instrument approach in adverse weather conditions". May they rest in peace. Gene Martin" Besides Gayle three other FL employees died in the crash: Capt. Kenneth Huber, FO Daniel Gough and flight attendant Dorothy Ruth Reif. According to the CAB Aircraft Accident Report released 3/11/65, there were five people on board. The fifth person most likely was a revenue passenger (if so, the only one ever killed on FL) but I haven't been able to make a positive ID. I'll be checking with Gene to see if he knows. -Jake Lamkins (2/7/02) Hi Gene, I found your account of the MLS accident very interesting. Tex Searle sent me a copy of the CAB accident report. It says there were five people on board. Was that fifth person a non-rev or revenue passenger? Would you by chance have a clipping or something with their name? Any other info you can share about this tragedy would be appreciated. The FO was Dan Gough - his son who was born several months after the crash has been in touch with me. I'll send him your info. I also plan to use it in the NEWS. Thanks again, -Jake Lamkins (2/7/02) Hi Jake, Regarding the fifth passenger on board, he was a Henry Swenson from Columbus, North Dakota, a small town near Williston, N.D. I have a newspaper clipping that I will run a copy off and send it to you, will have to be next week sometime but I will get it done. Thanks, -Gene Martin (2/8/02) Hello Jake, Thanks so much for sending me Gene's report. His first hand account is for sure worth keeping. I really appreciate you taking the time to send it to me. It was quite interesting to read. Please let me know about the other info he plans to send you later. Hope this finds you doing well. -Daniel Gough Denig (2/10/02) Even though I was with Frontier for several years (from 1958 through 1964), I wasn't aware of the stellar safety record. The MLS accident occurred two weeks before I left Frontier. I remember hearing through the grapevine that during interviews by investigators following the accident, a rancher who heard the crash was unable to open the door of his truck when he went to investigate due to the build up of ice on the doors. -Steve Horton (2/12/04) I was in Billings when Flt. 32 crashed in Miles City, Montana. I had returned from a sales trip to Miles City and Glendive and was visiting with the crew before it left Billings. I received a call around 1:30 AM from Vern Carlson advising me of the situation and asked that I go over to Dan Gough's place and comfort his widow until her minister could come by to see her. This had to be one of the hardest things I ever did while at Frontier. Ken Huber the Captain was a great person and liked by all. I knew everyone on the flight that night except the passenger from Williston, ND. We were a close knit group at the Billings domicile, Ellie Bastar was the Chief Stewardess and Ben Stuart the Chief Pilot. Dan Gough's widow was pregnant with her second child at the time of the accident (Flt. 32 was the first plane to have fatalities on Frontier). On November 7, 1964 Kurt, our second son was born at St. Vincent's Hospital in Billings and my wife's room mate was Dan Gough's widow who also had a son. Life is full of many strange things. -Herb Schmidt (8/1/05) Email from Herb to Dan's son: Hi Dan, My name is Herb Schmidt and I was the salesman in Billings when you dad died due to the crash of Flt 32. I was called the night of the crash to go over and see and stay with your mother until her minister came over to see her. I knew your dad and the entire crew on Flt 32 including the agent from Miles City who was in the jump seat. When my youngest son was born on November 7, 1964 at St. Vincent's Hospital your mother was my wife's room mate. I can't remember if your birth date was the same. What a small world. Where are you living and your mother? You can see my complete bio with Frontier in messages for the obituary of Ben Stuart, who was the Chief Pilot in Billings, when your dad was based there. Hope to hear from you. -Herb Schmidt (9/6/05) Hello there! Wow, it is good to hear from you. Thanks for contacting us. My wife & I are in Albuquerque and my mother is in East Texas. I look forward to sharing more with you & vice versa. I will talk to my mother and let her know we have heard from you. I was born on November 6, and I will tell you this much, I guess flying is in my blood. My wife & I enjoy flying around the country in our own plane. We have company now but I look forward to corresponding with you later. It might be next week before I can e-mail again. Your friend, -Daniel Gough Denig (9/7/05)