East Providence, Rhode Island – June 5, 1927
On June 5, 1927, a 37-year-old Boston man was giving a balloon exhibition and parachute drop at Crescent Park in the Riverside section of East Providence. The act would begin with the aeronaut ascending to an altitude of 3,000 feet at which time he’d drop from the balloon using a series of four parachutes. As he would cut away from one chute, he’d deploy the next.
His first three parachutes worked as they should, but when he tried to deploy the fourth it failed to open, and he fell 1,000 feet to the ground landing in a field near Willett Avenue.
Hundreds flocked to the scene before police could rope off the area and cover the remains with a sheet.
The aeronaut had been employed at his job for two years. He was a veteran of WWI and was survived by his wife.
Source:
Woonsocket Call, “Parachute Jumpers Suffers Fatal Fall.” June 6, 1927.
