Windsor, Massachusetts – December 10, 1986
Updated March 15, 2019
At about 6:00 a.m. on the morning of December 10, 1986, a twin-engine Beechcraft 100, (N65TD), with a pilot and co-pilot aboard, left South Bend, Indiana, bound for Pal-Waukee Airport in Wheeling, Illinois. There they picked up three passengers, all top level business executives for Teledyne Industries.
After departing Pal-Waukee Airport, the aircraft continued on to the Lorain County Airport in Elyria, Ohio, where another passenger, also a Teledyne executive, came aboard. The plane then departed for Pittsfield Airport in Massachusetts.
The weather near Pittsfield consisted of a layer of cloud cover at 800 feet. At around 9:45 a.m. the aircraft was making an instrument approach to Pittsfield when it crashed and exploded into the top of Judge’s Hill in the town of Windsor, Massachusetts, about eight miles from Pittsfield. (Judge’s Hill is located between Savoy Hollow Rd. and Bates Rd.)
All aboard the aircraft were killed.
This accident was reported to be the worst to occur in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, since August 16, 1942, when sixteen servicemen men were killed when their army transport crashed on Garnet Peak in the town of Peru.
Other fatal Berkshire County aviation accidents listed were:
Aug. 12, 1948 – A Cessna crashed into Mt. Greylock killing the pilot.
Oct. 12, 1949, One person was killed when their plane crashed in Dalton, Ma.
Aug. 11, 1955, the pilot of an experimental aircraft was killed when he crashed in Pittsfield.
May 27, 1957, an Air Force F-86 from Westover Field crashed in Lenox killing the pilot.
April 2, 1958, A navy twin-engine plane crashed into Mt. Greylock killing the co-pilot, Lt. Eugene B. Ganley of Grosse, Ill.
Oct. 10, 1958, A navy airplane from Quonset Point, R. I. crashed in Willaimstown killing Arthur Robarge and Lt. (Jg.) Louis M. Bradshaw.
May 11, 1965, Two Air National Guardsmen were killed when their jet crashed in New Marlboro.
June 25, 1967, a honeymooning couple was killed when their plane crashed on Mt. Williams in North Adams.
Sept. 8, 1969, the private of a private plane was killed when it crashed in Sandisfield.
November 28, 1971, Five family members died when their plane crashed into Mt. Greylock.
Sept. 22, 1973, a Connecticut man was killed in a plane crash in Becket.
Nov. 16, 1973, four family members were killed in a plane crash in West Stockbridge.
Oct. 25, 1975, two students were killed in a plane crash in Williamstown.
Sept. 5, 1979, A pilot died of injuries from a plane crash in Lee.
Feb. 26, 1981, two men died in a plane crash in Williamstown.
Apr. 22, 1981, A pilot was killed in a crash in North Adams.
Mar. 18, 1983, A plane crashed into Mt. Williams in North Adams killing two men aboard.
Dec. 8. 1985, A man was killed when his plane crashed in Peru.
Sources:
Berkshire Eagle, “Plane Crash Claims 6 Lives In Windsor”, December 11, 1986, Pg. 1, (With maps and photos.)
Berkshire Eagle, “It Was A Typical Day, Until…”, December 11, 1986, Pg. 1
Berkshire Eagle, “Berkshire Plane Crashes Have Taken 54 Lives Since 1942.”, December 11, 1986, page B-12.
Berkshire Eagle, “Ill-Fated Plane Almost Made It”, December 12, 1986, Pg.1
Providence Journal Bulletin, “6 Die In Plane Crash Near Pittsfield, Mass.”, December 11, 1986, page A-7
Westerly Sun, (R.I.), “Aviation Investigators Probe Crash That Killed Executives”, December 11, 1986, page 8.
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