DOROTHY REIF 1963 - 1964 FLIGHT ATTENDANT BIL She was killed in the crash of Flight 32, a Frontier DC3, at Miles City, Montana the evening of March 12, 1964. She was 22 years old and had been a flight attendant since October 13, 1963. The pilots, Capt. Ken Huber and FO Dan Gough, and two others (an employee and a fare paying passenger) were also killed. -Jake Lamkins (4/22/99) The full story of this tragic event is retold in THE GOLDEN YEARS OF FLYING by Tex Searle, a retired Frontier Airlines captain. -Jake Lamkins (1/21/00) 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 1 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) 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. -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. -Gene Martin (2/8/02) RE: Miles City Accident On March 12, 1964, I was invited to a TUS station party by TUS Manager and friend Jim Butler. While on my return flight to PHX from TUS, the FL captain called me to the cockpit to inform me of MLS and that Jim Montgomery, Director of Customer Services, wanted me to call him just as soon as we landed in PHX. I called from my PHX office (Cal was PHXFL manager then) and he advised me again of the crash and all died. He then directed me to perform one of the most difficult tasks of my career. The mother of the on board stewardess (Dorothy Ruth Reif, age 22) lived in an apartment in PHX. I drove to the apartment complex, roused the apartment manager explaining the situation and asked that he accompany me to awaken the lady and make known her daughter was now with the Lord. Her shocked appearance will remain with me. I felt completely inadequate and full of anguish for her as well as those on board the flight. She was such a lovely person and was yet unable to reconcile my message. -Cal Reese (10/26/02) 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) She is not in the SSDI. -Jake Lamkins (1/20/07) DOROTHY REIF BIL flight attendant per the 10/15/63 - 2/15/64 FL Sales & Service Personnel Rosters. -Jake Lamkins (1/4/13) Posted at FLacebook and the FL Club: BIL flight attendant Dorothy Reif's memorial webpage has been upgraded. http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Dorothy_Reif.html Several items added and updated. Still need a photo and obituary for Dorothy. Dorothy, only 22, died with four others in Frontier's first fatal crash, including the only fare paying passenger we lost in 40 years. -Jake Lamkins (1/9/13) FLacebook: Photos posted from Vi Lester's scrapbooks Left, Oct. 11, 1963, Pat Friday, General Manager of the Kansas City Athlectics, and Dorothy Reif. Center, Oct. 11, 1963, Kansas City, Dorothy Reif, Dorothy Reif was killed in the DC-3 accident on March 12, 1964 in Miles City, Montana. Also killed was the pilot, Kenneth Huber, the co-pilot, Daniel H. Gough, a passenger, Henry Swenson, and Gayle Bussinger, the Frontier station agent at Miles City. -Nancy Lester Hays (5/4/15) WONDERFUL!!! I have needed a photo of Dorothy for years to add to her memorial webpage. http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Dorothy_Reif.html Swenson would be the only passenger FL lost in 40 years of flying however we lost several other crew members in crashes. This crash was featured in the Winter 2005 FL News. -Jake Lamkins (5/4/15) FLacebook - FL Club FLight West: Dorothy Reif BIL flight attendant Dorothy Reif's memorial webpage has been updated: http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Dorothy_Reif.html Got some great photos of her but still need an obituary. One of our youngest to fly west, Dorothy was only 22 years old. -Jake Lamkins (5/10/15) FLight West: Dorothy Reif BIL flight attendant Dorothy Reif's memorial webpage has been updated: http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Dorothy_Reif.html I found two more photos of her. One of our youngest to fly west, Dorothy was only 22 years old when she died in the FL DC-3 crash on Mar 12, 1964. -Jake Lamkins (6/24/16) Dorothy's first assignment was in Billings along with Diane Terry and I. She moved in with us. One of our flights, 3 of our DC3's flights would take off around 5:00 PM, taking off within 15 minutes or so apart. All going in different directions and then meeting at Great Falls. Our 2 flights had landed and we were waiting for the third DC3. Our crew kept radioing and radioing and could not get a response. We found out later that the flight crashed into a mountain, (the weather was bad). It was Dorothy's first flight for Frontier. -Peggy Bailey Solinsky (6/23/17)