Lenox Massachusetts Plane Crash | New England Aviation History

Lenox, MA. – August 6, 1965

May 24, 2026

Lenox, Massachusetts – August 6, 1965

On August 6, 1965, a lone 41-year-old pilot was flying a single-engine plane over the Lenox area when he was forced to make an emergency landing. According to witnesses, the plane appeared to be making a safe landing when it suddenly dipped and crashed into a small maintenance building on the grounds of a state highway office. The pilot was transported to a hospital in Pittsfield with non-life threatening injuries.

Source:

Providence Journal, “Mass Educator Injured Slightly In plane Crash”, August 7, 1965, Pg. 26.

Lenox, MA. – May 27, 1957

March 7, 2023

Lenox, Massachusetts – May 27, 1957

F-86 Sabre – U.S. Air Force Photo

On the afternoon of May 27, 1957, two Air Force F-86 Sabre jet fighters were partaking in a mock dog-fight over Lenox, Massachusetts, when one of the aircraft, (#51-5950), piloted by 1st Lt. Francis Lee Revere, (25), stalled, and then went into a dive, crashing nose first into the ground. The jet crashed and exploded on the Roberts Farm on New Lenox Road leaving a wide 12-foot deep crater and scattering debris.

Lt. Revere perished in the accident.

There had been no contact between the two aircraft.

The other F-86 returned to Westover Air Force Base

The incident was witnessed by hundreds of people on the ground who’d been watching the to aircraft for about thirty minutes prior to the crash.

Lieutenant Revere was assigned to the 33rd Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

Sources:

The Berkshire Eagle, “Jet Pilot Plunges To Death; Hundreds See Lenox Tragedy”, May 28, 1957, pg. 1.

The Berkshire Eagle, “Eyewitness Tells Story Of Fatal Jet Plane Crash”, May 28, 1957, pg. 27.

The Berkshire Eagle, “Sabrejet Pilot in ‘Dogfight’ Air Force Ace In Korean War”, May 28, 1957, pg. 27.

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