United Airlines Flight 736

United Airlines Flight 736
U.S. Air Force F-100F

Some of the Douglas DC-7 aircraft wreckage collected for the crash investigation.
Accident summary
Date	April 21, 1958
Summary	Mid-air collision
Site	Enterprise, Nevada, USA 35°59′59″N 115°12′20″W / 35.9998°N 115.2056°W / 35.9998; -115.2056Coordinates: 35°59′59″N 115°12′20″W / 35.9998°N 115.2056°W / 35.9998; -115.2056
Total fatalities	49 (all)
Total survivors	0
First aircraft
A United Airlines Douglas DC-7, similar to the one involved.
Type	Douglas DC-7
Operator	United Airlines
Registration	N6328C
Flight origin	Los Angeles, California
1st stopover	Denver, Colorado
2nd stopover	Kansas City, Missouri
Last stopover	Washington, D.C.
Destination	New York City
Passengers	42
Crew	5
Survivors	0
Second aircraft
An F-100 fighter, similar to the one involved.
Type	North American F-100F-5-NA Super Sabre
Operator	United States Air Force
Registration	56-3755
Flight origin	Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
Destination	Nellis Air Force Base
Crew	2
Survivors	0

United Airlines Flight 736 was a daily U.S. transcontinental passenger flight operated by United Airlines that crashed on April 21, 1958, following a mid-air collision. The aircraft assigned to Flight 736, a Douglas DC-7 airliner carrying 47 persons, was flying at cruise altitude above Clark County, Nevada, en route to a stopover at Denver, Colorado, when it was struck by a United States Air Force fighter jet crewed by two pilots. The collision occurred at 8:30 a.m. in clear weather within a major commercial airway; both aircraft fell out of control from 21,000 feet (6,400 m) and crashed into unpopulated desert terrain southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada.

There were no survivors from either aircraft, and with 49 fatalities it remains the deadliest crash in the history of the Las Vegas Valley. Among the victims were a group of military personnel and civilian contractors involved with sensitive Department of Defense weapons systems. The loss of the group triggered new rules prohibiting similar groups engaged in critical projects from flying aboard the same aircraft.

The official investigation stated that cockpit visibility limitations played a role in the accident, but also faulted military and civilian aviation authorities for not taking measures to reduce well-known collision risks that had existed for over a year within the confines of airways, despite numerous complaints from airline crews. The loss of United Airlines Flight 736—part of a series of 1950s mid-air collisions in American skies, including the well-publicized 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision—helped usher in widespread improvements in air traffic control within the United States.

Flight 736, a four-engined DC-7 propliner with registration N6328C, departed Los Angeles International Airport at 7:37 a.m. on a flight to New York City with stops in Denver, Kansas City and Washington, D.C. On board were 42 passengers and five crew members; Captain Duane M. Ward, 44, First Officer Arlin Edward Sommers, 36, Flight Engineer Charles E. Woods, 43, and Stewardesses Pauline Mary Murray, 22, and Yvonne Marie Peterson, 27. Of the passengers on the flight, seven were military personnel and 35 were civilians.