Northern Maine – May 19, 1972

Several miles southeast of St. Pamphile, Quebec  

    

     On May 19, 1972, a former World War II, U.S. Navy TBM-3E Avenger that had been converted to a crop sprayer was on a flight from New Brunswick to Ottawa, Canada, on a course that took it over U.S. airspace.  While over northern Maine, the plane developed engine trouble and the pilot, Alan Woytaz, 40, was forced to make an emergency crash-landing in the Maine wilderness. 

     The former warbird belonged to Hicks & Lawrence Ltd., an aerial spraying company based in Ontario, Canada.   On the day of the crash, Woytaz was piloting one of four aircraft sent to New Brunswick to have the sprayers calibrated.  Afterwards, as the four planes made their way to a spraying job north of Ottawa, the carburetor on Woytaz’s plane malfunctioned.

     “I was real lucky,” Woytaz told reporters, “everything happened right, including the soft spruce saplings I could see below.  There I was, in the trees, not injured, but without a map.  My buddy had a map and his aircraft was flying away.”

    The area Woytaz had gone down in 1s extremely remote, and under other circumstances he might never have been found. Fortunately, one of the other pilots witnessed the crash, and circled briefly before having to fly on due to oncoming thunder storms. Woytaz was forced to spend the night in the aircraft until he was rescued the following day.     

     The aircraft was not recovered, and remained where it fell for the next 19 years.  During that time portions of the plane were removed.  Three brothers from St. Pamphille, Quebec, hiked to the wreck, and over a period of three weekends, carefully disassembled and removed the engine, hauling it in sections through the thick forest and across a river to their home.  This was no easy endeavor, for the fully assembled motor weighs 2,600 pounds.  At their home, they reassembled the engine and preserved in in working order. 

     Other parts such as cockpit gauges were removed by the occasional souvenir hunter, and at one point a family of bears used the fuselage for their home, but overall the aircraft remained in good condition.     

 

     Eventually the wreck came to the attention of the Rhode Island Aviation Heritage Association, which was interested in recovering and restoring it as a warbird.  The plane held special significance because it was the same type flown by former President George H. Bush during World War II, and Bush had received his flight training in Charlestown, Rhode Island.  If the plane could be salvaged, the plan was to restore it with the markings of Bush’s aircraft.  The association sought, and was granted, permission to salvage the Avenger.

     An incredible amount of planning and logistics went into the recovery.  As stated, the plane had gone down in a remote area, and the only practical way to bring it out was by air-lifting it via helicopter – a very big helicopter.   Yet before that could happen, the land surrounding the wreck had to be cleared, which meant cutting down trees and removing thick brush.  Over the years the plane had settled into the soil, which had to be dug away, and the wings had to be removed to reduce weight.     

     Arrangements were made with the Connecticut Army National Guard to use one of their helicopters to air-lift the plane from the woods.  This was done as a three-day training operation for the Guard.  Once the plane had been extricated from the wilderness,  it had to be transported to Rhode Island by flatbed trucks.   Numerous man-hours went into this project.

     The engine wasn’t overlooked, and a deal was struck to purchase it from the men who recovered it.   It too had to be transported to Rhode Island.

      

    

  

     The removal took place on September 17, 1991, and within a few days the Avenger arrived at the Quonset Air Museum in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.  Over the next several years volunteers worked diligently to bring it back to its former glory.  As a result, the TBM-3E Avenger, (Bu. No. 53914) is now on display at the Quonset Air Museum.

     Of the 9,839 TBM/TBF Avengers built, less than 200 survive today.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Bangor Daily News, “Three Brothers Treated Engine Like Baby For Nearly 20 Years”, September 21, 1991, Pg. 1

Bangor Daily News, “Recovery Operation Had Its Exciting Moments, But It Was Scary Too.”, September 21, 1991.

Bangor Daily News, “Bomber Recovery Called ‘Fantastic'”, September 21, 1991, Pg. 1

Bangor Daily News, “Pilot Recalls Day Plane Crashed”, September 21, 1991

The Westerly Sun, photo and caption, October 23, 1991, Pg. 3

The Westerly Sun, Recovered Plane May Be Shown Locally”, September 20, 1991

Morning Sentinel, “WWII Bomber Recovered”, September 20, 1991, Pg. 6

Morning Sentinel, “WWII Bomber Retrieved”, more detailed article than one above- no date.

Kennebec Journal, “WWII Bomber Lifted Out Of Northern Maine”, September 20, 1991

Providence Journal, “Rivet By Rivet, Plane Aficionados Restore WWII Torpedo Bomber”, January 11, 1998, PC4C4 

Warbirds International, “Avenger Recovery” by Howard Weekly, Jr., January/February 1992

Other information and photos provided by Larry Webster, Aviation Archeologist and Historian, Quonset Air Museum.