Boston, MA. – August 24, 1990

Boston, Massachusetts – August 24, 1990

     Shorty before 6:30 a.m. on the morning of August 24, 1990, a Piper Cheyenne turboprop aircraft with three people aboard was making its way towards Boston’s Logan Airport from Cape Cod when the pilot reported that the engine had suddenly lost all power.  The aircraft crashed in a driveway between two houses on Lorna Road in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood killing all aboard.  The resulting explosion set both homes on fire.  One was vacant, the other occupied, but the residents escaped without injury.

     Source: Providence Journal, “3 Killed As Plane Crashes In Boston Neighborhood”, August 24, 1990, page B-5.  

 

Boston/Mattapan – November 1, 1944

Boston/Mattapan – November 1, 1944

Updated January 19, 2022    

  

F6F Hellcat
U.S. Navy Photo

       The following incident involves self-sacrifice and dedication to duty.  The pilot truly deserves to be called, “an officer and a gentleman”.

     On the evening of November 1, 1944, Ensign John Joseph Sheehy, (24), took off from the Squantum Naval Air Station in Salem, Massachusetts for a night training flight.  He was piloting a navy F6F-5 Hellcat, (Bu. No. 58148).  Fifteen minutes into the flight the aircraft developed engine trouble and Ens. Sheehy attempted to return to base.  When he was about four miles from the base the engine stopped and efforts to restart it where futile.   After alerting Squantum of the situation, he radioed, “I don’t want to bail out, some civilian might be hurt if the plane crashed.  I’m going to try to pancake it in a pond down below.”   With that he dumped the plane’s ammo and set the Hellcat on a glide.  Ahead he saw the Neponset River in the Mattapan section of Boston and aimed for it.  As he neared the ground he skimmed over several roof tops before catching a wing in some trees and crashed in a marshy section along the river where the plane burst into flames.  Ensign Sheehy perished in the crash.  

      To see a photo of Ensign Sheehy, click here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2817026/john-joseph-sheehy  

     Sources:

     U. S. Navy Accident Report dated November 1, 1944. 

     The Milwaukee Journal, (United Press) “Stays With Plane To Spare Civilians, Navy Flier Killed”, November 2, 1944.

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