South Weymouth Naval Air Station – May 22, 1964
Weymouth, Massachusetts
On the afternoon of May 22, 1964, navy lieutenant Philip D. Brodeur, 25, was practicing “touch and go” landings in a Douglas AD-5W Skyraider at the South Weymouth Naval Air Station. On his last approach, a gust of wind caught the plane while it was still in the air and flipped it on its side. One of the wings touched the ground, but the plane managed to stay in the air barely missing a cluster of homes before crashing behind them. Lt. Brodeur was killed.
Lt. Brodeur was survived by his wife and two children. He was a 1962 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and is buried in St. Michael Cemetery in Hudson, Massachusetts.
To view a photograph of Lt. Brodeur, see www.findagrave.com, Memorial# 107680639.
Sources:
New York Times, “Navy Pilot Killed In Landing”, May 23, 1964
Larry Webster, Aviation Historian, Charlestown, Rhode Island.