East Hartford, Connecticut – August 2, 1931
On the morning of August 2, 1931, a 31-year-old man rented a small airplane at Brainard Field in Hartford and took his wife with him on a routine flight. While on the flight, the plane went into a spin, but he was able to successfully pull out of it. (The man had a total of 30 flight hours to his credit.)
Later in the day, the man took off in the same airplane and while at an altitude of 2,000 feet the plane again went into a spin. This time, as he was pulling out of, the plane struck some tree tops shearing through the upper branches. Remarkably, the plane came to rest for a few moments in the tree tops before its weight broke through the canopy. The crash occurred about six miles from the airfield.
The aircraft was wrecked and the pilot suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The pilot told investigators that the engine quit which caused the plane to go into a spin, but witnesses claimed the engine was still running as the plane came down.
Source:
The Providence Journal, “Providence Flier Escapes Death In East Hartford Plane Crash”, August 3, 1931.
