Litchfield, CT. – June 12, 1943

Litchfield, Connecticut – June 12, 1943

 

P-47C Thunderbolt
U.S. Air Force Photo

     On the morning of June 12, 1943, a flight of three U.S. Army P-47 aircraft took off from Westover Field in Chicopee, Massachusetts for a training flight.  While the airplanes were passing over the area of Litchfield, Connecticut, two of the aircraft were involved in a mid-air collision. 

     One of the aircraft, a P-47C, (Ser. No. 41-6081), piloted by Lieutenant Andrew Lemmens, crashed and burned in a wooded area off Norfolk Road in the town of Litchfield, near the Goshen/Litchfield  town line.  Lt. Lemmens was able to parachute safely, and landed in the woods about a mile from the crash site.  Two local youths who’d witnesses the incident found the pilot and led him out of the woods. 

     The other aircraft involved was a P47C, (Ser. No. 41-6088).  Further details are unknown as of this posting.    

     Both aircraft were assigned to the 320th Fighter Squadron.

     Sources:

     The Torrington Register, (Torrington, Ct.) “Plane Crash Reported Near Goshen”, June 12, 1943, page 1

     The Torrington Register, (Torrington, Ct.), “Airplane Burns Following Crash In Litchfield”, June 14, 1943

Litchfield, CT. – April 3, 1973

Litchfield, Connecticut – April 3, 1973

 Bantam lake

     On the evening of April 3, 1973, a piper Cherokee 180 left Worcester, Massachusetts, bound for Stewart Airport in Orange County, New York.   It is believed there were three people aboard, one being a student pilot.

     Shortly before 10:30 p.m., the control tower at Stewart Airport received a radio call from a pilot stating that his aircraft’s wings were icing up and that he was loosing altitude.  The pilot gave his position as being “over the Litchfield area.”

     At 10:30 p.m. a witness reported seeing an aircraft plunge into Bantam Lake off Point Folly.  The water depth in that area is between 10 to 18 feet. 

     Connecticut State Police divers responded to the scene and recovered two bodies, one a 37-year-old man from Washingtonville, New York, and the other a 30-year-old man from Newburgh, New York.  It was reported that divers were continuing the search for a third man believed to have been aboard, identified only as a “student pilot”. 

     Source:

     Westerly Sun, (R.I.), “Two Killed In Connecticut Plane Crash”, April 4, 1973   

 

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