Investigators were puzzled when they were tasked with figuring out what caused this seemingly safe plane to burst into flames. They never expected that the answer to all of their questions would be tucked inside a woman's purse...
A Normal Flight
Everything was supposed to be business as usual. On November 1, 1955, the plane was set for the skies. United Airlines Flight 629 was set to take off from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, stop for a brief layover in a Chicago airport, and then make its way to Denver’s Stapleton International Airport. At 6:11 PM, the crew boarded the plane and readied themselves for a journey that would become the flight of a lifetime...
So Far, So Good
Nothing seemed to be anything out of the ordinary. The plane took off as usual, and just about four minutes into the departure, the captain radioed into the air traffic control to confirm that things were going as planned. Unfortunately, the captain, crew, and ground workers were all about to witness a terrible surprise...