Winsooki, Vermont – November 11, 1954
U.S.A.F. F-86 Fighter Jet
On November 11, 1954, a flight of F-86 Sabre jets took off from the Ethan Allen Air Force Base in Burlington in response to an unidentified aircraft entering U.S. air space near the Canadian border.
One of the aircraft, (Ser. No. 51-6131), was being flown by Captain Mahlon A. Smith II, 30, of Sioux City, Iowa. As Captain Smith was climbing to altitude his engine suffered a low level “flameout”. Instead of bailing out, Captain Smith remained with his aircraft guiding it away from the private homes below. He was killed when he crashed in an unoccupied drive-in in Winsooki about a mile from Burlington Airport.
Captain Smith was assigned to the 37th Fighter Intercept Squadron based at Ethan Allen AFB.
Captain Smith was survived by a wife and two children.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85187477/mahlon-allison-smith
Source:
Providence Journal, “Wife Of Jet Pilot Is Widowed Second Times By Plane Crash”, November 12, 1954, pg. 30.
