Laconia, New Hampshire – July 22, 1945
At 6:55 p.m. on the evening of July 22, 1945, what was described by the press as a two-seat “light civilian airplane” took off from the Laconia Airport for a pleasure flight over the area. The pilot was a 23-year-old Army Air Force 2nd lieutenant due to be discharged on August 29th. His passenger was a 22-year-old local girl whom he’d know since they were children.
After circling the town of Gilford, they flew over the female passenger’s home, and then over the pilot’s home. While passing low over the pilot’s home the aircraft’s right wing struck the top of a tall tree about twenty-five feet from the house. The impact tore the wing off and the plane crashed into a wooded section across the street and exploded in flame. Neither occupant survived.
The crash was witnessed by the pilot’s mother.
Source: The Nashua Telegram, “Two Killed In Laconia Plane Crash”, July 23, 1945, page 12.