Manchester New Hampshire Aviation Accident | New England Aviation History

Manchester, N. H. – May 16, 1945

December 21, 2022

Manchester, New Hampshire – May 16, 1945

Grenier U. S. Army Air Field

B-17G “Flying Fortress”
U.S. Air Force Photo

On the morning of May 16, 1945, a Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress” (Ser. No. 42-5463) with a partial crew aboard was on the runway at Grenier Army Air Field in Manchester. The engines were in operation at the time, warming up, and the wheels were “chocked”. An army station wagon containing four officers of the bomber’s crew and a civilian driver drove out to the B-17. When it did so the the B-17 reportedly jumped its wheel-chocks and lurched forward into the station wagon, killing one man and injuring the rest.

2nd Lieutenant Bernard W. Schutter, Jr., (20) of Ames, New York, was killed in the accident. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42281985/bernard-william-schutter

2nd Lieutenant James H. Wagner, (22) of Los Gatos, California, was seriously injured.

2nd Lieutenant George Hermestroff (22) of Chicago, and 2nd Lieutenant Donald C. Maler, (21) of Fairfax, California, and the driver of the station wagon all received non-life-threatening injuries.

Sources:

The Manchester Union, “Army Board Presses Probe Of Bomber Mishap At Base”, May 18, 1945.

The Wilmington Morning Star, (North Carolina) “Car Collides With B-17”, May 30, 1945, pg. 2

www.findagrave.com

B-17 serial number supplied by Larry Webster, Aviation Historian, Charlestown, R. I.

Manchester, N.H. – May 20, 1979

September 21, 2018

Manchester, New Hampshire – May 20, 1979

Kaman Seasprite helicopter – built by Kaman Aircraft Corp, Bloomfield, Connecticut.

On the morning of May 20, 1979, a U.S. Navy HH2-Delta Seasprite helicopter left Norfolk, Virginia, with five crewmen aboard, bound for the Brunswick, Maine, naval air station. The crew was assigned to Light Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 30, also known as HSL-30. The purpose of the flight was for instrument training.

At about 9:30 a.m. the aircraft was passing over Manchester, New Hampshire, at an altitude of 5,000 feet when it suddenly went down and crashed near Manchester Airport. The weather at the time was cloudy and raining.

All five crewmen were killed in the crash. They were identified as:

Lieutenant Commander Lynwood H. Duncan, 33, of Greensboro, North Carolina. He’s buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Oxford, North Carolina.

Lieutenant Commander James P. Hogan, 34, of Davenport, Iowa.

Lieutenant Paul L. Mellott, Jr., 31, of Chesapeake, Virginia. He’s buried in Rest Haven Cemetery in Hagerstown, Maryland. He was survived by a wife and two children.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael J. Kennedy, 25, of Warminister, Penn.

Airman Paul J. Dellas, 21, of San Jose, California.

Sources:

Providence Evening Bulletin, “Investigators Probe Helicopter Wreckage”, May 21, 1979, page A-4

New York Times, “5 Killed As Navy Copter Crashes In Drizzle Near Manchester, N.H.”, May 21, 1979