Passenger planes are crashing three and four times a month in 1951 just as Americans are beginning to fly. Then, a loaded plane disappears in the night and can't be found. Panic and frustration reach all the way to the White House.

Twenty-six are killed in the most spectacular crash that no one heard on a mountain frosted with snow and fog. Fourteen survivors are the largest group of plane crash victims to be lost and stranded in North America. The stewardess holds a baby in her arms until it dies. They huddle beneath a parachute tent, arguing over food and how to get out. One...