Boston Airport – February 27, 1925
At about 10:30 a.m. on February 27, 1925, Army 1st Lieutenant Max Balfour took off from Boston Airport in a De Havilland DH4B bi-wing aircraft (Ser. No. 64609). With him as a passenger was Major Louis H. Beuer of the Medical Corps. Strong wind gusts of 35-40 mph were blowing from the northwest, and as the plane lifted off from the runway it was hit by a powerful wind gust and crashed at the waters edge. Neither man was injured, but the plane was described as “completely washed out.”
Prior to taking off, Lt. Balfour had been experiencing trouble with frozen water lines in the engine, and they had to be thawed before the flight. However, investigators didn’t believe that this had any bearing on the crash.
Source: Army Air Service Crash Report dated February 27, 1925