from author and historian Jim Ignasher
Boston, Massachusetts – December 7, 1929
On the afternoon of December 7, 1929, a 24-year-old pilot was taking off from the East Boston Airport in a Stearman bi-plane (NC-6260), when the aircraft struck a bump in the runway and suffered a broken strut to the undercarriage which subsequently caused damage to the propeller and right undercarriage. The pilot was not injured.
Source: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Aircraft Accident Report, dated December 7, 1929. (Massachusetts Air and Space Museum)
East Boston Airport – January 10, 1938
On January 10, 1938, a 25-year-old student pilot from Malden, Massachusetts, was killed when his airplane crashed at East Boston Airport on a training flight. The plane crashed a few minutes after take off when it dove to the ground from an altitude of 150 feet. No further details are known.
Source: Nashua Telegraph, “Student Flier Killed In Crash”, photo with caption, January 11, 1938, page 1.
East Boston Airport – May 30, 1933
On May 30, 1933, J. Oliver Beebe, 38, was taking flying lessons at East Boston Airport. Three times that morning he flew with an instructor who supervised his landing techniques. After three perfect landings, the instructor allowed Beebe to solo. After two perfect landings, Beebe took off to circle the airport for another. As he was approaching for the third landing, he overshot the runway and drifted out over the mud flats at the north end of the field. He then banked the plane to turn around, and as he did so it suddenly fell from an altitude of 200 feet and dove nose first into the mud. It took considerable time for rescuers to extricate Beebe from the wreckage. He did not survive.
Mr. Beebe graduated from Harvard University in 1916, and served with a French medical unit during World War I before the United States entered the war. He then transferred to the U.S. 26th Infantry Division and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.
He was one of the first Americans to be awarded the French Croix de Gueere medal. Other awards included citations from two French infantry divisions.
He was survived by his wife Alice, and their two children, and is buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Wakefield, Massachusetts.
Sources:
New York Times, “J. O. Beebe Killed In Plane Crash”, May 31, 1933
www.findagrave.com
East Boston Airport – November 13, 1938
Vintage Post Card View Of East Boston Airport
On November 13, 1938, students from the Phi Beta Epsilon fraternity of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology chartered three passenger planes for its “1938 version of the Boston Tea Party”. The planes left East Boston Airport and flew in formation around the city of Boston while those aboard sipped tea. All went well until the planes returned to the airport. As one aircraft was making its way across the tarmac after landing, its landing gear suddenly collapsed. Everyone aboard received a good jolt, but there were no reported injuries. Damage to the plane was estimated to be $10, 000.
Source:
New York Times, “Boston Tea Party In Air Ends As Big Plane Is Upset”, November 14, 1938
Boston Harbor, Massachusetts – May 18, 1930
On May 18, 1930, a 26-year-old man from Winthrop, Massachusetts, was test flying a new Curtiss – cabin monoplane over East Boston Airport when he suddenly developed a problem with the rudder. He tried to bring the plane down on the airfield but overshot the landing and sailed out over the harbor and hit the water about 200 feet from shore.
Richard Cowden, a salesman for Curtiss-Wright, jumped into the water and swam to the pilot’s assistance. Both clung to a wing of the partly submerged aircraft until rescued by a motorboat sent from the air field.
The pilot was treated for cuts and immersion.
Source: New York Times, “Saves Self In Plunge Of Plane Into Water”, May 19, 1930
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