KENNY HUBER 1951 - 1964 PILOT BIL Captain Kenneth C. Huber was 42 years old when Flight 32 crashed. He had 15,335 flight hours with 12,830 in the DC3. For the full story of this tragic accident see THE GOLDEN YEARS OF FLYING by Tex Searle, a retired Frontier Airlines captain. -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) Posted at FL Club 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 a quarter 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 (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) Four FL employees died in the crash: Capt. Kenneth Huber, FO Daniel Gough, flight attendant Dorothy Ruth Reif and MLS station agent Gayle Bussinger who was non-reving on the flight. 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) 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) 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 glad to see this web site, found out about it from my brother,Tom, who also worked for Frontier. I started on February 7, 1959 and worked until April 22, 1972. (I got caught in the Al Feldman purge like so many, Jerry Bacon comes to mind). I started on the ramp in Denver at Stapleton loading DC3's working with John Morgan, Jack Bass, Sam Paulson (Sam was known as stuttering Sam but when he use to PA you thought this guy should be in radio). In July 1959 I was hired in the sales department and work for Vern Carlson, who was the District Sales Manager. I worked with so many fine people in sales in Denver, Billings and Kansas City. 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) Nothing at FindAGrave.com or SSDI. -Jake Lamkins (1/9/13) K C HUBER Pilot seniority date of 1/8/51 per the 9/1/55 FL/ALPA Seniority List. ------------------------------------------ K. C. HUBER BIL copilot per the Nov 1955 FL Roster. ------------------------------------------ K. C. HUBER BIL reserve captain DOB 11/7/21 DOH 1/8/51 per the Feb 1960 FL Roster. ------------------------------------------ -Jake Lamkins (5/16/13) Posted at FLacebook and the FL Club: BIL pilot Kenny Huber's memorial webpage has been updated. http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Kenny_Huber.html Several items added but still need an obituary and photo for Kenny. -Jake Lamkins (5/17/13) I was on duty in ISN when Kenny went down. He was such a nice guy. I remember one day when he came thru ISN we refueled his DC3 before it went on to BIS where he over nighted. Next day he came back thru and gave me and Norm Blum the ground cable that we had apparently forgot to remove when we refueled. He just kind of grinned and said he couldn't figure out what was banging on his plane on the way to BIS. All the FL people were so great to work with. I will never forget them. -Daryle Holte, ISN EAR LAS SAF HVR (5/18/13) I would like to introduce myself, Debbie Huber Wilson, youngest daughter of Ken Huber. My family has been looking through the memories that we have come across while cleaning an attic! In storage for too long and a son, Tony, and daughter, Jenny, that are so excited to find anything we can about all of our heritage. We have some things that you would love to know about too. We need to know what we can do for you to complete some information that you might need. Found your info through the old Frontier Airlines family website. -Debbie Huber Wilson (8/9/17) Hi Debbie, I'm delighted to hear from you. I never knew your dad but I remember your sister Marsha. I hope she is well. What did she do after Frontier? I'm assuming you saw your dad's memorial webpage at http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Kenny_Huber.html It would be greatly improved with some photos and his obituary. Email me at ExFAL@yahoo.com Here's hoping your family is thriving! -Jake Lamkins (8/9/17) Posted at FLacebook and the FL Club: FLight West: Kenny Huber BIL pilot Kenny Huber's memorial webpage has been updated. http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Kenny_Huber.html Several items added including an obituary and a photo of Kenny. -Jake Lamkins (8/12/17) Ken was a great guy! One of my favorites! -Bonnie Dahl (8/14/17) This is awesome. Thank you so much for your hard work. Memories are not so fresh with me... I was only 10 at the time. I did find some great pics that Dad took from the plane on approaches and mountain ranges. I think I even found one that is the Billings airport when they were building an expansion. I do have his burnt headset, wings and wallet, too. His FAL Uniform, his WWII uniforms and jumpsuit. Lots of medals and misc from the war. So glad they were just packed away for a discovery one day.... Please keep in touch. I love reading the stories about all 'guys in their flying machines'. What a love we have for them all. blessings to you for everything you do.... -Debbie Huber Wilson (8/17/17)