Deadly Greed: The Bombing of United Airlines Flight 629
In 1955, Jack Gilbert Graham placed a bomb in his mother’s luggage before she boarded an airplane. He wanted to kill her for profit, and he didn’t care how many other lives he destroyed.
His mother and 43 others died, including an infant boy and his mother. Forty-four families were wounded forever. The victims ranged from a flight attendant who was getting married to several leaders of the Associated General Contractors of Washington.
I learned about this crime when I was young. Although it took place years before I was born, it has always been personal to me.
The Sabotage of United Air Lines Flight 629
In the 1950s, traveling by airplane was still rare. It was considered glamorous, although the true story wasn’t so pretty. Prices were high, and airline travel was not as safe as it is now. Yet no one thought someone might place a bomb in an airplane.
Then, in 1955, a business owner named Daisie (sometimes spelled Daisy) E. Walker King decided to fly from Colorado to Alaska to visit her daughter. Her 23-year-old son, Jack Gilbert Graham, saw an opportunity to make $37,500 in insurance money and inherit her estate. On November 1, Graham placed a time bomb made of 25 sticks of dynamite in Daisie’s luggage. That is overkill.
